Boyfriend and I had been blissfully dating for the last three months. At this point in time, he is now automatically invited to family events and dinners, and vice versa.

The funny thing though, everyone around us — my mom, my brother, his parents, and my Bible study groupies — had been asking us the same question.

“Is he the One for you na? When are you getting married?”

“How serious is he already?”

“Now that you guys are in your 30s, you have to start thinking seriously about marriage. Tick tock tick tock…”

This beffundles me. When I was in Taiwan and Hong Kong, being unmarried was just a phase in life, not a disease. Here in the Philippines, people become ultra curious when you tell them that you’re dating someone and want to know more about it.

“They’re all very kepo,” boyfriend says. “Why can’t they just be happy for us?” Kepo by the way is Fukien for wanting to know more.

What strikes me funny is that they’re more worried about my biological clock than I am! Sure, I would love to have kids before 35, but honestly, we’ve only been dating for 3 months. Isn’t that too early to think about getting married?

It’s come to a point that we’re forced to talk about marriage on an almost daily basis.

“You should start getting pre-marital counseling,” my mom suggested.

“Huh? He hasn’t even proposed yet!” I replied. “Why should we sign up for pre-marital counseling now?!”

The good thing is, boyfriend is unaffected and takes this all in stride. At least, he’s not running away from responsibility like a screaming hyena and finds the situation as funny as I am.

Just yesterday for example, I went to our Bible study group and they asked us of our status. I told them I was happily dating him (Note to self: Dating is NOT the right word. We are happily boyfriend and girlfriend).

They were of course concerned on how serious are we, and whether it is truly God’s will or not. “Pray about it,” my Bible group leader said. “See if it’s God’s Will.”

They lent me the following book to read, which I found to be hilarious:

Yes, you read it right. It’s the book, “Being Single is Better than Being Married to an Unsuitable Partner,” by William Girao.

I told boyfriend about it.

“We’re not inviting them to the wedding!!!” he joked. “Aren’t there any books that encourages you to grow as a couple?!”

I just laughed.

Yes, it’s been a happy time so far. Despite hiccups, we’re still growing strong as a couple, and it is surprising that time flies.

Let’s see how long this happy period lasts. 🙂