Unstoppable Love: Kyla and Rich Alvarez’s picture-perfect, 16-year romance
Rich first saw me in a concert.
I was doing front act for Alicia Keys, and then he watched me again in another concert. He just kept watching my concerts and finally, after mga four or five shows that he would watch me, we met in Araneta. That was the concert of Ate Regine Velasquez.
A common friend introduced us to each other. He asked me to sign three of my CDs. I cannot find the picture of the first time we met, but I remember umakyat pa ako sa chair para same level kami kasi medyo matangkad siya. I was holding the albums I signed for him.
Before our first date, he asked my parents first to go on a dinner with him before he asked me. He really pursued me. He was actually the first guy that I found to be the most sincere. He would visit me at home almost every day, he wasn’t scared to face my parents. I was really happy about that. He has such high regard for his parents and I admire that about him kasi ganun din ako.
One time, he visited me and he was telling me all these stories—his perception about things and relationships. Ang dami niyang mga sinabi and the conversation ended with “So, are we cool?” Pag-uwi niya, yung text message niya, may mga “I love you” na. Nagulat ako kasi first time niya magsabi nun. Until the first month, dun ko lang nalaman na we were official na. Hindi ko alam na yung “So, are we cool?” yun na pala yung “Can you be my girlfriend?”
When he proposed, we were seven years as boyfriend-girlfriend. We were supposed to have dinner na kaming dalawa lang, and when we got there, nagdadali-dali siya. Kaya pala, he was waiting for my parents, his parents, and our other relatives to arrive. When they all arrived, he finally led me to the room kung saan kami dapat magdi-dinner. How he asked me to be his girlfriend was also how he asked me to be his wife.
From the moment I met him, I already liked him so so much. He’s not a perfect guy pero para sa akin, as cliche as it may sound, he’s perfect. All the things that I like about a guy, he has it. Kumbaga, parang siya yung ideal man. He’s a family man, he loves God, he respects his parents, which is very important to me, my parents. It’s a breath of fresh air when I met him kasi iba siya. He’s very sweet, very thoughtful, even up to now as my husband, he never forgets responsibilities niya to me and to my son. I love that about him na parang consistent siya from start up to now na parang “How can you not love this person?”
I don’t really think about the seven-year-itch because it could happen at any stage of a relationship. It’s really a collective effort. Kailangan, we both have to make a decision to commit, to stand by it, and to pray about it, and to work on it every day. Our fights would not last for an hour. We would have misunderstandings but then parang nareresolve siya kaagad within a few minutes. We face it right away. Tapos hindi kami natutulog nang magkagalit kami. Yung isa sa amin, it’s either him or me, talagang magi-give in kaagad. Parang ako, hindi ko kaya na galit siya sa akin or galit ako sa kanya nang matagal. Parang matagal na yung isang oras. Parang ganun din siya sa akin. It’s either magso-sorry ako or siya yung magso-sorry tapos tatawa na kami.
Normal naman na may fears tayo especially kapag sobrang involved yung mahal natin sa life. Yung mga fears that would go on my mind: fear of abandonment, fear of not being good enough kasi mayroon tayong mga insecurities like sometimes, I’d feel like he could meet someone better or more good-looking. Yung asawa ko, he would always reassure me every day na I’m the only one for him. Parati naman niya akong nirereassure. I think that’s also one of the reasons why yung relationship namin has lasted this long kasi ganun kami sa isa’t isa, parang mayroong reassurance every day.
