Ren and Myrrha celebrate 54 years together

LW ANNIVERSARY

My wife, Myrrha Villanueva, and I will celebrate our 54th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 3. Our romance started when we first crossed paths in 1958 in my cousin’s house in Manila. Myrrha was a nursing student at the University of Santo Tomas while I was studying mechanical engineering at Feati University. We started dating as friends as we were still students. After Myrrha graduated from college, she worked herself to a gainful employment and, in 1963, she was granted an exchange student visa by the United States to continue her studies for two years. She would have to return to the Philippines after her visa ended. She instead applied for an immigrant visa in Canada, which was granted to her. She worked with Toronto General Hospital. While I continued my studies to finish my engineering career, which took longer as I was a working student. All the while we were exchanging letters and phone calls every week.

In 1967, I was recruited by Boeing Aircraft in Everett, Washington, as a contract employee. Myrrha returned to the Philippines unannounced in February 1968 to assess the situation of our relationship. After some serious considerations and being so much in love, I chose to migrate to Canada with her instead of becoming a contract employee in the U.S.

We got married at St. Basil’s Church in Toronto on Sept. 3, 1968. We are blessed with two daughters and a granddaughter. We had extensive travels around the world.

In 2018, Myrrha and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in Bora-Bora, Tahiti. We renewed our wedding vows officiated by a Tahitian priestess. I retired from Los Angeles Unified School District in 2000 and Myrrha retiredfromLAC-USCMedical Center in 2001. We moved to Leisure World in 2007 and are enjoying every minute of it. We keep ourselves busy by joining clubs and volunteering our time to this incredible community.

-Ren Villanueva