Saturday, February 19, 2011

A Love Story?

I read this short story years ago. I continue to keep a copy of it as it never failed to make me cry. It just points out what is missing in relationships as time goes by. At first, the feeling with your love one is strong. But the more you are with him/her, love is now replaced by familiarity. Somehow, we will come to the point to find that tingling feeling of falling in love again in another person.

This is the story I wished to share.

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By: Joey Gabinete Acebron

To those who are married, .. Not married .. and soon to be married, I hope you will be touched with this story... MARRIAGE
 
When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, "I've got something to tell you". She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. "I want a divorce..." I raised the topic calmly.
 
She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, "Why?". I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, "You are not a man!" That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Dew.
 
I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her! With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly.
 
Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now. The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.
 
In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage. This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning.. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
 
I told Dew about my wife's divorce conditions.. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.. My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed.
 
So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, "Daddy is holding mummy in his arms". His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; "don't tell our son about the divorce." I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door.
 
She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office. On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time.. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her.
 
For a minute I wondered what I had done to her. On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.
 
On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.
 
Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad.
 
On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, "Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore". She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead.. "Do you have a fever?" She said. I moved her hand off my head. "Sorry, Dew." I said, "I won't divorce".
 
My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.
 
 At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart. That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.
 
The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage! If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you. If you do, you just might save a marriage. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.


Monday, February 7, 2011

Mayumi's Misadventures in Cebu

I don’t know about you but I like to sleep when I am really dead tired. My co-workers may complain about that but I do welcome the tiring feeling and the urge to sleep for a long time.

It is my day off again. As I am writing this now, I am swaying and have that feeling again like I am floating. I like to be tired when I sleep. In fact, it is one of my greatest pleasures. If people would like to treat themselves to go to bars after the whole week of work, I am somehow treating myself for an everyday restful sleep every shift.

Keep in mind that I do a 8 hour shift everyday. I am only human and I also get tired. Then I would always think what my life will be here in Makati. A probinsyana like me is not fit in this hectic world. I just smiled as I remembered the things I did to be here in Makati

There was one time when I was in Cebu and rode a jeep on the way to Ayala Mall. On the way, I found out that I have no money to pay for the fare. Alright…alright it is JUST 6 pesos. When I check on my pocket, I said "OHHHHH MMMYYY GOOODDD". I have only about two pesos only. How will I pay for this ride? So what I do is to sit at the back of the driver. On the way, I handed the driver all the fares that was handed to me. Manong, bayad po. (Mister, this is the fare…) I thought to myself, "This will work…" as I silently planning for my escape. Then when I arrived to the place where I want to be, I quickly went out of the jeep. UNDETECTED! The driver didn’t know a thing. Such a sneaky tactic. I am having some attack from my conscience then.

But what would I do? I don’t have a choice. I am in a limited income then.Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh. Sibaaattt!!! (Bisaya word for ESCAPE) Toinks...What will you do if you were in my place?

Well, this is one of the survival tactics for one probinsyana like me. Still I was living then in Cebu. I have limited money in my pocket. I am on a budget. I promised myself that to stick to my 75 pesos a day budget. I do not want to get help from my parents. I want to stand on my own.

I was preparing my papers for my flight to Makati. You know the drill: medical check up, physical check-up and all the check-ups in the world. At this time, I didn’t have my approval from my dental check up. I went to Colon to see a dentist. Imagine it would take me about an hour just to go to the dentist. I have walked the Mango Avenue to find a dentist but my money is just enough and can’t afford their fee. That’s why I went to Colon. My cousin says that the dentists there are good and affordable. They charge over 500 pesos for just the cleaning! Is that affordable?! To my shocking nerves, I just went through with it. I am really feeling I am really operated in the table. The dentist is not that really gentle with patients. It is just like you are dying. Well I feel like dying at that time. But hell… I need to do it.

Why do they need to have it check up anyways? It wouldn’t affect the work. I think. Oh well.

It was lunch then and I went to a fancy restaurant. Not that really grand. It was just right. I sat there in the corner and order rice and some water. The waiter was waiting for my order (of course that is his job). He was shock when I told him as I set out my viand from the cellophane, "It’s okay. I brought my lunch." That would probably embarrassed me but I was enjoying the look on his face.

Can you imagine a person who is disgusted because you just went there and just ordered a cup of rice? From there on, I noticed how quickly people will judge other people. People are so ignorant sometimes. He doesn’t know that I can afford them. Let us say that I am just practical. Hmmmm….I have to blame my mother for that. I got this crazy stuff from her but it is practical. Wink wink BlogBooster-The most productive way for mobile blogging. BlogBooster is a multi-service blog editor for iPhone, Android, WebOs and your desktop

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Comparing Storylines: A Call for a Fresh Movie and TV Series Concepts

Last night, my roommate Arlene and I have been talking about how our day been till midnight. The conversation flowed from the workload, overtime and the little comedy that happened that day. Then we talked about soap operas or teleserye.

At that time, I was hooked to Vaness Wu's new soap opera entitled "I love you so (Autumn Song)". It is about a cocky guy who feels in love with a bento girl. Vaness Wu who played Stanley Ren has a brain tumor while in a relationship with the bento girl. He undergone a surgery and lost his memories. It has a nice story line.

But the more I watched it, I can't help comparing it to Meteor Garden. When Shan Chai was rumored to be two-timing Dao Ming Si, the students of the super-rich school bullied her. In this soap, it has the same element wherein the bento girl Chu Meng was rumored to seduce her step-father and the students of also a super-rich school bullied her. When Shan Chai was kidnapped, Dao Ming Si also came to rescue her and got himself beaten up. On the other hand, Chu Meng also got kidnapped. You know now what happened. Stanley Ren came to the rescue and got also beaten up! Is this a coincidence? Don't forget the part where in Dao Ming Si got an amnesia and almost got married to his savior. Same with this show, Stanley Ren got an amnesia and got engaged to his doctor!

Agree on me on this. This is a short version of Meteor Garden with a twist. I can't help noticed the similarities. Now that I think about it, I noticed that it also happened in some of our Philippine Movies as well.