Julianne

The first baby I babied was Julianne, eldest child of my discipler Philip Tarroja who was the campus director of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) in UP Diliman. She was about two or three years old when I first saw her around 1984, and I, along with other CCC movers, were immediately smitten by her cuteness and intelligence. Being an only child then (her brothers Christopher [my inaanak] and Immanuel would be born a few years later) Julianne was a little spoiled, and at first she was a little masungit towards me and didn’t even want me to carry her. I remember the exact moment when that changed: one time I was trying to take her from her mom Ate Rica and she wouldn’t come to me, and so I made with the sad face and said, “You don’t like me.” Realizing I was really feeling bad, Julianne quickly changed her mood, smiled, and said, “I like you naman e.” Then she reached out her arms and let me carry her.

I’d like to think that over the next years we were quite close because I spent a lot of time with her family. Her dad and mom are really second parents to me, and when Kuya Philip decided to leave CCC and develop a student church I went along with him. When I joined the ministry in 1988 it was with this same campus ministry, and in April 1990 we (the Tarrojas and four of us campus missionaries) went to Davao City to help in a summer youth camp here. That was actually the last time I spent any real time with Julianne and her family because I moved to Davao the following July.

I never saw Julianne grow up, and now she is 24 years old (she celebrated her birthday last February 1, a date I never forget because my own birthday is at the end of the same month) and is fast becoming a star in the music world. That would make her the first celebrity I genuinely know personally, and I am mighty proud of that! I can only wish I can see her perform live, but that will have to wait until she either comes to Davao to do a show or I go to Manila to watch her in any one of her gigs.

Check out Julianne’s space on myspace and this interview on speed-mag.com, and also click on the video below for a taste of her music. Julie, I’m so proud of you!