16 years ago

I never told you how Taufik and I met.
Actually, maybe I have told some of you, so if you have heard this before, you know what to do.

Taufik and I went to the same community college for two years. The first time all the girls saw him, they were all struck by his .. erm.. cuteness. Yes, he was really good looking. eh, sorry, he is still good looking. But none of us (well, at least, my friends) had the guts to make the first step and talk to him, coz he was a Petronas scholar (read: cream of the crop) and obviously out of our kampung slim river league. Furthermore, we were there to study, not to make boyfriends (tee hee). To put it in american teen-flick terms, he was with the in crowd and I was more like the nerd.
For the first year we were in the college, we didn't even speak to each other.
One day in our sophomore year, Yaya, Aidot, Shidot and I were lazing around reading teen magazines when Yaya saw a contest where the first prize was New Kids On The Block concert tickets (hello, this was early 90's okay). All we had to do was send in a picture of an NOKTB look-alike. So i suggested this guy friend of ours who I think looked like Danny (something.. not Donnie Wahlberg, the other one), but my other friends thought Taufik would be better coz they think he looked like Jon Knight. *rolls eyes*. I was reluctant, because I thought Taufik would think it was silly and laugh at us, while the other guy was a good friend of ours and is prolly used to our silliness.
In the end, they won, and since I was the only one who goes to the same class as Taufik (my friends were taking IT), I was doomed to be the one who asked him. So i wrote a little note asking to talk to him after Dynamics (read: insanely difficult calculus, I wouldnt have taken it if it wasnt a requirement for an Engineering degree) coz that was the last class before lunch and I could make the other girls be with me while I ask him if we could take pictures of him.
After Dynamics class, I joined my friends who were waiting outside the classroom to see if Taufik would really come talk to us. He asked what's up and while we all walked to the cafeteria, i told him what we needed him to do.
He laughed, of course.
But not a "no way, you girls are stupid" laugh. More like a "I can't believe this is happening to me" laugh.
Suprisingly, he said yes.
So we met up for the 'photo shoot'. Yaya took pictures while the rest of us gave instructions and just giggled at times. Aidot, Shidot and I were watching while Yaya took a picture of Taufik against a blue wall when I felt that I just had to remark "Actually, he's kinda okay" and Aidot sighed and agreed. We walked home that afternoon gushing about how nice he was, how he wasnt the snob we thought he was and how that made him so so so much cuter. ah well..

A few weeks later it was Valentine's Day. We didnt have boyfriends (read: nerdy losers) so we decided to make small cards for all our friends. Just so happens the pictures were ready and we wanted to give a copy to Taufik, so I made a small card for him too. Nothing mushy coz I didnt want him to get the wrong idea or anything, just "Happy V-day, pal" or something, I can't remember. I gave the pictures and the card after Dynamics class and he said thankyou and put the card in his pocket. End of story.
or so I thought.
That evening, Aidot and I were walking back from buying our dinner and we decided to play in a tent that was pitched at the side of the road in front of the warden's house. The tent turned out to be too small for us so we decided to get out after we've had enough. I was just getting out of the tent when Taufik rode past on his motorcycle. I saw him turn the bike around as I was about to cross the road. He stopped right by me and asked me what I was doing. I said I had just played in a tent. Then he said thanx for the card and we started to chat. We chatted for quite awhile and I didnt even realize that Aidot had left us and walked back to the dorm by herself.
Well I guess the rest is history.
We were friends for a long time until he asked me where we're headed and we finally said the L-word to each other. We went to different schools in the US and travelled back and forth between Illinois and Oklahoma to keep the relationship alive. We finally got married in Oklahoma during the Summer of '92, one day and a year and a half after we had that first chat.

So forgive me if Valentine's Day holds a special place in my heart. It marks the day I started to get to know Taufik, and yes, ladies and gentlemen, today I've known him for exactly 16 years. :D

Gosh I feel old. :confused: