Tricia Sandejas, the known first love of the late actor Rico Yan, narrated how she met and fell into one of the most popular artists in the country until today.
She narrated her story with Rico on the “RICO: the commemorative magazine.”
Tricia said she met Rico in 1992 at De la Salle University, where they were both freshman students.
According to her, Rico was the one who made the first move and started courting her.
“He started calling me up, and our friendship began. I remember he would always wait for me at Mcdonald’s so we could eat and spend our break time together. I didn’t realize that he was already courting me until he sent me Chips Ahoy and a sweet note when I got sick,” she said.
In 1993, Rico then asked Tricia to be his girlfriend, and she immediately said yes.
“Among all the flowers in the world, you are the one that stands out,” Tricia said while recalling the words Rico said to her.
Their relationship even became sweeter and even reached to the point that they were ‘inseparable’ already.
“We wrote long love letters to each other every day, and sometimes he would give me 3 letters that he wrote in 1 day. He would leave notes in the place where we hung out to tell me where I could find him,” she narrated.
Tricia also recalled how their relationship was so simple and fun.
“One rainy afternoon, we were getting bored in the house just watching TV, and suddenly his entire face lit up, and he said, “Let’s take a shower in the rain!” There we were in my backyard, chasing each other in the rain and playing our silly games,” she said.
They even planned their wedding and the names of their future children.
Everything changed when he started working in the showbiz industry.
“I could sense that he was getting pressured to do a lot of things. It was getting heavier every day. He was going to school, finishing his thesis, and making a movie at the same time. I tried my best to understand his career path, but I couldn’t help feeling neglected,” she said.
“I was also starting to feel jealous of the pretty girls he would be with,” she added.
Despite his stardom, Rico didn’t hide Tricia from his fans.
However, their relationship ended when Rico became overwhelmed with his career.
In 1997, they officially ended their relationship, and she was supportive of the decision as Rico was already becoming a big star.
They even met in 2002, when they celebrated Rico’s birthday together and informed her about the end of his relationship with Claudine Barretto.
Tricia was now married to former Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay.