LOVE is in the air for Kevin and Joni Tudela, the winners of our Marianas Variety Valentine’s Day giveaway.
The contest began earlier this month online. To win, our social media audience had to write a short post complete with a photo or send in a video essay describing how they express their love to family, friends, or significant other.
Our staff reviewed the submissions and selected the “most heartwarming post” as the winner of the contest. Through their joint Facebook account, Joni and Kevin described sharing meals, being affectionate, and spending quality time as a family as ways they show their love. Their entry was made in memory of their child, Jaxxon Blaise Castro Tudela, who passed away shortly after his first birthday in 2022.
“You never know when your loved ones will hear you say, ‘I love you’ for the last time,” the couple wrote. “Never go a day without having your loved ones know or feel like they are loved. We will never know the outcome of tomorrow.”
At the small handover ceremony at the Marianas Variety office in Garapan, Kevin Tudela said that he and Joni have been together for 11 years. He says that it’s not always smooth sailing when a relationship lasts over a decade, but it can still “last forever.”
“A relationship takes a lot of hard work,” he says. “It’s never easy to make something last this long. There’s always bumps along the way but if you work things out and put God first, your family first, you’ll always get through trials and tribulations that come your way. If you make it through, you’ll last forever.”
He also adds “And of course love, you got to love each other.”
Joni Tudela says it was her idea to enter the contest. She shares she wrote the initial draft, and Kevin came in later and helped her add the winning details.
Speaking about their background, Joni also adds the couple met through church, while Kevin was in catechism classes to get confirmed in the Catholic Church.
“We would always meet up at church, sing in the choir, go to the beach, have fun and from there a fling started,” she reminisces. Joni says she was interested in him first, but Kevin remembers it differently.
“For the record I liked her for a really long time, I just never made a move,” he says with a laugh.
With their win, the couple receive a 18×24 inch print out of their photo, plus a gift package that includes a bouquet of flowers, a cupcake package courtesy of By Yours Truly bakery, a special package from Mommyla Facial Spa, and a gift basket filled with goodies.
The pair say they have dinner plans for Valentine’s Day, and that over the weekend, they’re focusing on the construction of the brand-new home they plan to move into sometime this year.
Joni, left, and Kevin hold the prizes they won as part of the Marianas Variety Valentine’s Day contest.
