00:00 Emily was eight months pregnant and not a single person knew we were entangled in the web of lies
00:06 We had woven and in an instance our lives came crashing down
00:10 It was June of 1999. It was the first time I ever laid my eyes on her
00:15 She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen I remember thinking to myself damn
00:19 The guy who gets that girl is the luckiest guy in the world for six long months, though
00:25 I could only admire her from afar
00:28 Finally the semester's wrapping up and I realized my time was now or never
00:31 So I slipped her a note asking for her phone number as I watched her scribble something back
00:36 My heart was literally just beating right out of my chest
00:39 I could only think of the worst-case scenario instead written there in beautiful handwriting was her phone number
00:45 We exchanged many calls that lasted all night through to the early morning and with a little bit of magic
00:50 We began dating and that was just the beginning of our journey together
00:55 One year later and we was eight months pregnant and not a single person knew it was her best-kept secret
01:02 But also the worst kind to have and we was small and were big sweaters to cover up the bump. We were young
01:09 naive and clueless teenagers
01:12 We had some of the toughest conversations of our lives during this period it didn't get any easier from there, though
01:18 We made the very difficult decision to put our unborn son up for adoption
01:24 We had several meetings with the local adoption agency meetings where we sifted through
01:29 profiles of potential parents a couple of strangers would be reaping the rewards of our unplanned pregnancy
01:36 they would be happy parents and we would not be parents a
01:40 19 a part of me felt light relieved from the pressures and responsibilities
01:46 But the other part of me felt very heavy
01:49 It was weighed down by this deep sense of guilt
01:52 Shame and regret the day came for us to finally sign the adoption papers
01:57 But before doing so we met Emily's doctor for her routine appointment and what the doctor said next
02:03 Would forever change the course of our future Emily
02:07 Your baby is too small. You need to stay at the hospital until you give birth
02:12 There is now no choice, but to reveal our year-long secrets
02:17 It was time to tell her parents and they were not happy to say the least
02:21 Her mom is very traditional East Asian and wanted a dowry in exchange for her daughter
02:27 She asked for two goats
02:30 Where was I supposed to find two goats
02:34 Ultimately with the love and support of our families we decided to keep her son. We would be happy parents after all
02:44 Sometimes which seems insurmountable in the moment may end up being one of life's greatest blessings
02:51 I'm a testament to that
02:53 17 years ago
02:55 I was scared and I doubted myself every single day because I wasn't sure if I had what it took to be a good father
03:02 and now
03:05 I'm so proud to be standing on the stage to be able to share my story
03:09 With my son who is in attendance tonight
03:15 He
03:17 Has no idea how many times he's pulled me out of the
03:22 Darkest moments of my life with his love and his laughter
03:25 I see a part of me and him and I'm incredibly proud of the man. He's becoming
03:30 Better not be bringing home any baby just yet, though
03:34 As for my high school sweetheart
03:38 There's simply no words for me to describe how much love I have for her
03:44 we've been together for almost
03:46 18 years now and have two more beautiful sons
03:49 And even though she's the last person in the world who watch a horror movie with me
03:55 She'll always be the first to laugh at my dad jokes
03:58 definitely worth more than two books
04:01 I've often heard that in order to make a relationship work
04:06 It needs to be 50/50, but I've learned that is absolutely not true
04:10 Because love is hard love is stupid love is messy love is blind love is painful
04:14 But in spite of all this love is still so worth it
04:19 Love is when you give a hundred percent and expect zero in return because if Emily and I hadn't given each other
04:25 Everything we had all these years those two young teenage parents would have never made it here
04:30 Almost two decades ago. Remember when I said the guy who gets that girl's the luckiest man in the world
04:35 Who would have ever thought that it would be me?
04:38 you
04:40 you
04:42 you
04:44 you
04:46 you
04:48 you
04:50 you
04:52 (upbeat music)
04:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
Comments