We were married in Thai Buddhist ceremony in the presence of 60 guests, three monks, and a 6-month old elephant named Pooky at Laguna Resort in Phuket, Thailand in January 2004. Twenty people, including our parents, joined us for our “honeymoon” in Koh Phi Phi. Then during the summer we had receptions in our respective hometowns in the Philippines and Washington state. In December of that same year my mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. It caught everyone by surprise because she does not smoke. She passed away a year later, a day after her 70th birthday. Looking at these wedding photos remind me of one of our last happy moment together.
