By Olivia Shipp ‘26
Michael Shipp steps onto the bus in the foreign country of the Philippines. He sees the beautiful bus driver and her beautiful long hair. He stares for a second until he decides to talk to her – and that’s how their story starts.
Shipp comes from a large, tight-knit family, and thinks that family is everything. He has 2 sisters, one older and one younger, and they still talk everyday. Cajipo comes from the complete opposite. When she was born she was given up for adoption. She got chosen by a family with multiple women and was treated poorly by all of them. She would get beaten daily for things she had never done, until she finally decided to leave.
When she left, she started as a bus driver, where she met Michael. At the time, he was in the military, and rode her bus every day.
“He called me Foxy Turkey,” said Cajipo. “What pick-up is that? When you’re drunk, who knows?”
One day her friend said she met a man and she wanted Cajipo to meet his friend. When meeting at the spot, the man’s friend turned out to be Shipp and the rest is history. From fighting bats together in a sketchy motel, to Michael chasing after Cajipo when she got too scared of the relationship.
“He stuck to it, so, we’re it for each other,” said Cajipo. “We already celebrated our 53 years together.”
Shipp and Cajipo have spent a lifetime with one another, and they plan to spend another one. One of the things that made their relationship last was their understanding of one another.
”I think it’s just a daily, normal activity where she just does everything that makes me feel loved, you know,” said Shipp. ”[she does] the laundry without complaining, dishes, whatever, anything.”
They have been together for so long and have listened to each other that they are tuned to each other, knowing what they want without having to tell them.
“He just tries to do things that make me happy, like flowers. I love flowers. So when I say, don’t buy me any flowers because they’re expensive, he buys them away. That little thing like that makes it easy, plus he has an incredible amount of patience with me and his generosity,” Cajipo explained. “He’s patient. He’s patient with me.”
Even with all the years and sad times that have passed, the moments they confided in each other, the moments they laughed together, and just the comfort of being near the person they love, keeps their love growing. The small gestures matter more than people think, and they both understand that. To this day, when Cajipo calls Shipp on the phone, “Foxy Turkey” will still pop up on his phone as a reminder of that love at first sight that has turned into a lifetime.