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BY HERBERT L. VEGO
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Tuesday, June 6, 2017
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WHENEVER a niece or any young girl seeks my advice about marrying in June so she could be classified a “June bride,” I tell her my story for whatever moral lesson it’s worth. I was a June groom whose marriage with a June bride ended in de facto separation.
It was 45 years ago when my fiancée expressed her wish to be a June bride. It seemed “automatic” that I agreed just because it would make me a June groom. She was 21 years young; I was 22.
As a ghost writer for an entertainment columnist of the defunct Philippine Sun and Evening News in Manila – fresh out of Journalism school – I really thought that since I was already earning enough money for my needs, a second mouth to feed would not be much of a burden.
My girlfriend was likewise confident of finishing her Education course.
So much was my love and passion for her that I agreed to marry her in a Roman Catholic Church even if I was not of the same faith.
The date June 25, 1972 started ominously with heavy rains that proved the weatherman right: Typhoon signal No. 3 had struck Metro Manila. By the time I was riding a borrowed car on the way to the church, flood water had risen knee-deep. The engine conked out, and I had to push the car with the help of bystanders to enable the driver to rerun it.
I arrived at the church at exactly 3 p.m. as scheduled.
By the time Fr. Francisco San Diego pronounced the newly-wed “man and wife,” the wind had blown harder and the rain had poured heavier. The flood water had become so non-negotiable by small cars that some of our sponsors failed to make it to the wedding reception at the bride’s house in Project 8, Quezon City.
Fortunately, one of our wedding sponsors was the late Dr. Jose Perez, the big boss of what was then the biggest movie producer, Sampaguita Pictures. He had our guests transported to the dinner site in the company bus.
Our first night was a “sleepless one,” but not for the usual reason. It was because I had to rush my bride to a hospital due to a sudden epileptic seizure.
Thereafter, one problem erupted after another, draining our financial resources. She had to quit school to engage in small business.
To make the long story short, we broke up after eight years and one son. If there was one thing I succeeded in, it was in proving my parents right: that “singles” had to be well-prepared before plunging into “double life.”
Today, I wonder how many other ill-prepared June brides and grooms have fallen victims to a marriage tradition that is believed to have started in Rome two thousand years ago in honor of the deity Juno, goddess of marriage and childbirth.
There was a practical side to it: A marriage in June could result in a conception early enough so that a wife wouldn’t be heavy with child during the harvest.
Even the term “honeymoon” has a historical origin, referring to the first moon after the summer solstice in June 21.
The Hollywood movie industry boosted the popularity of June as the wedding month when it produced the movie June Bride in 1948.
Today’s young ones aspiring to be June brides and grooms don’t have to learn from their own experience. Before it’s too late, let them learn from us who have been there. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
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