explore my optimistic world

I am inspired to write this not because I am in love, but because I am touched by how they love each other despite the trials they had undergone and currently experiencing.

I was doing my internship in Cebu when I saw this couple. It was summer of 2010. They owned this inasal business—selling smoked foods on sticks such as tocino, hotdog, chicken, etc. The woman is in her 40s, while the man is in his late 20s. The gap is far, but they have proved to all that age does not matter.

While together, one can undoubtedly notice that the guy is very young for her. I’m not sure if they are married, but what I know is that, they are living together in one shelter.

One year after, I came back to Cebu and stayed in a boarding house near our previous rented house which is just a walking distance away from their store. I mean this year, I’m back to Cebu.

One night, I and my mates agreed to eat inasal, and chose the place where we used to eat when we had our OJT. I was taken aback upon seeing the woman in her paralyzed state, which she can hardly speak, stand and walk, that what she can only manage to do is to sit. But what moved me much was, seeing them together. The man stays in her side, together managing the business despite the condition of the woman. The bulk of the work is done by the man—from cooking to counting, while the woman gives the change to the customer.

I am touched because despite the condition of his partner, the man stays with her, with the one he loves. His love to the woman is unconditional, patient, kind and understanding.

“True love,” I tell myself every time I see them, every time I think of their love story, of the waves that were thrown to them to test their love for each other. Every time I recall their faces, I end up wishing and hoping to live with someone who has the same attitude as with that man. I wish my future partner will also love me despite my weaknesses, despite my physical, mental and emotional negatives. I wish he will accept me and my condition fully, and will love me truly and unconditionally.

Considering that the man is still young, he would have chosen to leave her partner and look for another happiness. But he’s different; he’s one of the few saints; he’s one of the few loyal beings. His love to the woman is genuine and priceless.

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