Mother Lily’s grandson Keith brings home a wife

Is this the little girl I carried

Is this the little boy at play?

I don’t remember growing older…

— Sunrise, Sunset (from the musical Fiddler on The Roof)

You blink and when you look again, the little girl you carried and the little boy you watched at play are gone, in their places are young adults who have grown up and away from you, ready to start their own families.

That’s how Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde and her daughter Roselle feel now that Roselle’s son Keith, one of Mother Lily’s seven grandchildren, is bringing home a wife, Winni Wang. The sweethearts of four years are exchanging I do’s, “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health…,” on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Shangri-La Boracay in Boracay Island.

“Time has flown so fast!” said Roselle misty-eyed, his voice cracking a bit. “It seems only yesterday when I was holding Keith in my arms, so cute as a baby.”

Keith is the first grandchild in the Monteverde clan to get married.

“The excitement is the same as when I was getting married,” said Mother Lily. “It’s also the same as when my four children got married. Inaasikaso ko ang lahat ng bagay. I’m so eager to be a great-grandmother. Pero iba ang sa apo. It’s so emotional, so sentimental.”

Keith, 32 (a Libran), graduated cum laude with a degree in Law at Boston University, with a Masters of Law from UC Hastings. Winni is a doctor-pharmacist who, like Keith, grew up largely in the US where they were introduced by a mutual friend.

“The wedding is set on the beach because Keith is a beach lover,” added Roselle who remembered the young Keith as also a lover of girls’ beautiful legs. “When he was at the mall, he would watch girls go by and sit beside those with beautiful legs. Very funny!”

“Keith was a happy boy,” recalled Mother Lily. “He’s very loving. I took care of him for several years.”

“He’s thoughtful and caring,” said Roselle. “When Keith was a kid, every time he saw my mom smoking, he would take away the cigaret and put it off. When my mom was operated on (for lung cancer a few years ago), Keith came home from the States and took a break from his work to check on his grandma.”

The groom is also independent. He flew to Taipei to ask Winni’s hand in marriage. The Wangs hail from Taiwan.

“We learned about the engagement only after it was done,” smiled Roselle. “Keith took care of everything.”

Here’s the wedding entourage:

• Principal Sponsors: Antonio Tuviera and Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto, Peter Coyiuto and Charo Santos-Concio, lawyer Alfred Alex Cruz III and Sen. Loren Legarda, Jose Javier Reyes and Cristina Tan Ng, Jose “Chito” Roño Jr. and Comm. Leonida Bayani Ortiz, Edwin Luy and Irene Tan Luy, Kenneth Yang and Cory Vidanes, Tony Wong and Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Ronald Stephen Monteverde and lawyer Anna Teresa Gozon, and Stephen Tan and Sherida Monteverde-Tan.

• Grandparents of the Groom: Leonardo Monteverde and Lily Monteverde

• Grandparent of the bride: Shu-Feng Chung

• Parent of the Groom: Marie Roselle Monteverde

• Parents of the Bride: Jack Wang and Joyce Wang

• Bestman: Arthur Che

• Matron of Honor: Shannon Bui

• Groomsmen: Yuen Chien, Theodore Monteverde, Matthew Monteverde and Bibo Apostol

• Bridesmaids: Bridget Lauren Monteverde Teo, Jennifer Isaac, Irene Yang and Kristen Monteverde

• Flower Girls: Mira Cristina Dy Ng and Jaz Apostol

The couple will reside in San Francisco, California, after their honeymoon.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)