Welcome to the second installment of our Brods and Sisters for Life feature, where we tell the love stories that grew from the lifelong ties of Upsilon and Sigma Delta. For those of you who read the first installment, this is a feature about our Brods and Sisters who ended up as each other’s “happily ever after.” They started with the strong foundation of being brod and sis, then built their lives around that special bond.

In the first installment, we featured The Veterans: Nestor and Narcy. They have been married for close to 52 years. Their courtship was set before social media and tech gadgets, and for five decades, they have shown that love does last and that happy, successful marriages do endure.

​This time, we will meet The Newbies: Ray and Karina. They have just barely begun their lives together and are now in their third year of marriage. They had to navigate courtship during the pandemic lockdown. And in their modern story, we’ll hear how social media humorously played a role in their relationship and how they navigated a significant age gap.

The Newbies: Ray and Karina Orozco. Brod is from Upsilon Batch ’65, and sis is from Sigma Delta Batch ’91. They have been married for just over two years and are going strong.

Both have been active with their respective Upsilon and Sigma Delta Alumni Associations, and both have held esteemed positions in the fraternity/sorority.

Q: How did you meet? What attracted you?

Background: They formally met at the 50th anniversary celebration for Batch ‘70, although Ray says he had known Karina since 2018. They had met but didn’t reconnect until a year later, partly due to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. At the party, they bonded over shared interests in marketing and food (Ray’s business is in the food industry). According to Ray, he was already attracted to Karina at that time, while Karina says her feelings slowly developed over time.

Karina: That was before the pandemic. It was held at the Manila Polo Club. We met a week before the lockdown, I believe. We met through another brod who wanted to mingle with the sisters and interact “sa mga dalaga.” Ray approached me and introduced himself. I knew of him since he’s a popular brod and I recognized his name from the centennial party of the brods. We talked about marketing dahil alam nyang nasa marketing ako. Our conversation wasn’t long at all. Not much more than five minutes because I had to leave. I took lots of pictures kasi mahilig ako sa selfie to commemorate each event. Then I had to leave for Los Baños. Ayun na.

Ray: Hindi. Hindi pa yun… At the party, we talked about the possibility of working together. She said, “Sige…I’ll call you,” but the call never came. One week after, six months after… zero. No call. I also didn’t call her because I didn’t know her number. I know I could’ve asked around, but I became busy, and my focus was on my business and how I would help my people survive during the pandemic.

That was March of 2020. A lot of Ray’s energy and attention were focused on the pandemic and surviving the times.

Ray: Pero, nakikita ko yung picture namin…

A year after their initial meeting, at the UNO (Upsilon’s Noble & Outstanding) Awards during the Upsilon Congress, Ray was a recipient of an award. Karina read about it on social media. It wasn’t difficult to seek him out because they shared common connections. Once she found Ray, she decided to reach out to congratulate him.

It turns out, Karina missed a message from Ray on Facebook Messenger. He sent it a few days after they first met. The message had been “sleeping there for one year” because they weren’t Facebook friends. It had been filtered into another folder, and Karina had not seen it.

Karina: It was not meant at that time na magkita kami. So, after I saw that, tuloy-tuloy na yung usapan namin. That was in March 2021. The vaccine was released in April. I mentioned to Ray that I had a dentist’s appointment in Quezon City and Ray asked, “Pwede rin ba akong pumunta dun?” Dun na uli kami nagkita ng face-to-face.

Q: Describe your courtship.

They began seeing each other, with Ray meeting up with Karina after her dentist’s appointments.

Ray: It started with talking about food. Kasi I was in the food business. This led to discussions about virgin coconut oil. She mentioned there was a factory within UPLB, and I asked, “Pwede bang magpabili?” And she said, “Sure.”

Karina: That started our exchange of gifts. Besides food and food items, he also liked plants, so I got him the coconut oil and brought him plants from a shop dito sa bundok. There were no hidden intentions, no malice dun sa pagbigay ko sa kanya. It was simply because he was nice to me, I was being nice back. Ayun, natuwa sya sa mga gifts ko, I guess, na-develop sya.

When asked whether, during those gift-exchange times, Ray was already interested in Karina as a partner, he admitted he had every intention of courting her.

Ray: Baka sakali…

And then, as luck would have it, Karina’s dental visits turned out to be a series of visits. So, Ray took the opportunity to see her after each of her clinic visits. That ended up with them seeing each other once a week throughout her treatments.

Karina: Pumayag na rin ako na magkita kami. People were still being careful, but things were already beginning to open up (post covid lockdown). And after a few months of seeing each other in the city, Ray decided to see me in the south. Our first date (on my end) was a road trip to Paete around July 2021. It was around the time of the Red Moon. He kissed me on the cheek. I didn’t really make a big deal out of it then. But that marked the start of us being officially together.

Karina and Ray describe their typical dates. Mostly lunches with Ray, based in QC, and Karina, based in Los Baños. When she visited Quezon City, they often went to places or restaurants they thought were interesting. The merging of their lives was easy because both are from families of Upsilonians and Sigma Deltans.

They initially kept their relationship private. They weren’t really keeping it secret, but they weren’t broadcasting it either. Their relationship was outed via social media! They had gone to Pangasinan, and he posted pictures on Facebook. Unknowingly, he posted a picture that had Karina in it – a tiny but apparently recognizable picture of her – and some brods and sisters had noticed. That sparked a wave of questions about whether they were together.

They did confirm that they were together. Then, Ray tells the story of their first official couple sighting. A sis from batch ’65 had passed away, and he decided to attend the wake with other batchmates from ’65. He also took Karina with him, and that cemented the fact that they were together. A brod from a younger batch happened to take some stolen shots of them, and it circulated that Ray and Karina were a couple. Kilig!

Q: How did you know you wanted to get married? How did you ask?

Ray: Ako ang nag decide e. Around 2022. Feeling lang talaga. At that time, madalas na akong pumupunta sa Los Baños. That’s after advising others na ‘wag manliligaw sa malayo para makatipid sa gasolina. I don’t remember how I asked her. Basta’t what stands out in the memory of my asking her to marry me is her query, “Sigurado ka ba?”

Karina: Kasi ako, I’ve never been married. It wasn’t an issue for me. I never had kids. Never got married. Coincidentally, that was also around the time that the annulment of his first marriage had come through.

Ray has children from his previous marriage, and when he was asked how they reacted to the news that he was going to marry Karina, he said…

Ray: Yung isa said, “You deserve to be happy.” Yung isa naman wala lang kibo, at yung isa ayaw. In general, ayaw nila.

When asked what her motivation was for responding with “Sigurado ka ba?” when Ray proposed, Karina said:

Karina: It wasn’t so much about his overall situation but more about being sure if getting married again was something he really wanted. Being that he had already gone through it before, it was, “Gusto mo bang isa pang problema…ulit?” Something like that. Pero, I guess, he was really decided. Ako naman, (I knew it and felt it) we just had so much in common, and we enjoy each other’s company talaga, so I decided to accept his proposal. It wasn’t really a typical or traditional proposal. After previous talks about getting married, he later asked what my ring size was, and we went from there.

Q: What is the one characteristic you love the most in your partner?

Karina: Simple lang syang kausap; walang drama. I hate dramas. I wasn’t really seeking a relationship, nor was I eager for marriage, because, based on the past, I knew it could be tedious to maintain a relationship. E, from the beginning, kalmado lang sya. It’s more on he’s masarap kausap; masarap kasama. And I learned a lot from him also. A lot of interesting conversations.

And Ray’s answer?

Ray: She’s young (everyone breaks out in laughter). She’s 26 years younger than me. Seriously, though, we share a lot of things in common. Art… I am a bit of an artist myself (Karina is an accomplished artist). I was one of the art directors of the UP yearbook (during my time). So in the field of art… visual, music, interior design… we have so much in common.

Karina: Our views, principles, and ideas – nagbe-blend. Most of the time, we agree on things.

Ray: Chaka isang napaka importante sa’kin is our beliefs. We share a belief in Jesus Christ. We’ve been attending our bible study fellowship for about two years now. We attend every Tuesday. If Jesus Christ is the center of your relationship, it’s good.

Q: What is the one characteristic you find most difficult to love in your partner?

Karina: Yung temper. Ako, pag ganun (escalated situation), I know when to stop. Sya, he will keep prodding, asking. Tapos ng nga, tumahimik na’ko. Tama na…

Ray: Annoying ‘ka mo? (laughter) Wala naman masyado. Pero meron syang mga napapansin. Yung mga bagay na maliliit. Yung bang “sweating the small stuff.” I just tell her, wag mo nang pansinin yan. Or I just tell her to just do it (fix something if she wants to change something).

Q: How do you handle conflict?

They were asked if they had any extended periods of not speaking to each other; both said, “No.” They have no drawn out chasing each other after a conflict or holding a grudge.

Ray: We usually talk every day. Even if we’re apart. And if there’s a disagreement, niyayaya ko lang sya, “Tara, kain na tayo.”

Karina: Pag siya ang galit sa akin, I reach out to seal the gap.

Ray: And sometimes I initiate (the conversation) even if ako yung nagalit sa kanya. I tell her, “The reason I blew up is because of this…”

Good communication is essential to keeping the peace.

Q. What are the advantages or disadvantages of marrying a brod or sis?

Karina: Well, the easiest answer is parati kaming magkasama. And since we both love the fraternity, we both love the sorority, we are always present at events and activities. I know his contemporaries and have no difficulties with that. Since I’ve been active (in Sigma Delta) even in my younger years, marami din akong kilala. Maraming contemporaries in common. Disadvantage? Wala akong nakikita.

Ray: Maraming mga brods na pag nakita ako (they say), “Idol, idol!” (laughter). I married a woman 26 younger than me, Sigma Deltan pa. And it doesn’t seem to pose any problems.

Q. If you could give newly dating couples one bit of relationship wisdom, what would it be?

Ray: As I said before, “God should be part of your relationship.” Pag meron nun, walang problema, kasi maganda yung patutunguhan ninyo. (With Him) You’ll know what’s good and what’s bad, alam nyo kung ano’ng pwede at hindi pwede. Kung ano ang bawal… You are guided.

Karina: In addition to that, get to know each other well. And don’t do anything na makakadamay sa sarili nyo. Kung ano yung ayaw ng magulang ninyo na gawin ninyo, don’t do it.

As the interview ended, it was very clear that this couple’s strong bonds are what make up ties that last. The dynamic between them is that of love and respect, and peaceful cooperation. What a pleasure it was to interview them!

Whether love begins in youth and endures for five decades, or blossoms once both partners are established professionals, these couples prove that timeless elements of lasting relationships exist in every era. Whether courtship leans traditional or unfolds in an age of social media and technology, their loving and respectful partnerships endure. They are playful, share common interests, and communicate well. On top of this, the “brod and sis” dynamic adds a playful icing to the cake of their enduring bonds.