The Greatest Love Affair

It's almost 8pm and my stomach is already screaming for food. It's a Saturday night and eating dinner alone isn't exactly an interesting idea.

I have to admit that being single and loveless sometimes sucks. This is one of those moments where I wish I had someone I could just grab to dinner with.

Therefore, I have no other choice but to go to my favorite restaurant and have my fill. After ordering my favorite Caesar's Salad and Chicken Alexander, I noticed an old couple who just came in. They are dressed rather formally as if this ordinary Saturday night calls for such.

Though quite thin, the old man still has that stature full of male aura as if he is 40 years younger. He has his right arm wrapped naturally around the shoulder of his wife. The old woman may have lost the glamour and beauty she once had in her younger years, but she has that smile on her face I could never forget. This is the actual scene as I first saw them.

As if destined for me to meet this old couple, the restaurant happens to be full at that time, and being alone, they came directly to my table and asked if they could share it with me.

But of course! This is better than being alone. I just wish these two are still coherent and I wouldn't have to put up with stories of the World War 2 and how they undyingly waited for each other. Gosh! I didn't want to have a scrappy love story as my side dish!

So I sat there silently pretending to be texting. I never had the chance to be close with my grandma and grandpa so I am not so comfortable with the oldies. They started talking about some guy named Jake. He is probably their son who's going to pick them up later.

They immediately gave their orders, making side comments about the food and giggling over some silly joke they only understand. How very natural for both of them to be still enjoying each other's company. I sat there envying their exchange.

The old woman talked to me first. Being the woman that she is, she probably read my mind. She said "I am 68 years old and 40 years ago, I was also having dinner alone when I realized that I would be happier living the rest of my life with somebody I love."

And when she said that, she held the hand of her husband. It was one very unusually striking sentence to have said to a stranger as if she knew me and why I am alone.

After some introductions on names, work and family, we have serious discussions about politics and economy. I thought I had some safe topics on hand when suddenly the old man asked me "How could a smart and beautiful woman like you be eating alone on a Saturday night?"

Bummer. I am asking the same question myself. Therefore, I get to tell them about my first love gone astray; how unfaithfulness ruined my three-year relationship and how I have never fallen in love again.

Then the old couple told me their story:

OLD MAN: Today is our 40th year wedding anniversary. We were married when we were 28. She wasn't my first love nor am I hers. When I fell in love with her, she was still hooked up with her first love then. I taught her to bury her past. I made her realized that she has to risk loving again or end up being imprisoned by the wrong notion that true love does not exist. Mr. Right isn't just going to pop up and save her from her distress. She also has to open her eyes to find him and be happy again.

I knew that I am her Mr. Right. We led a happy marriage. Even after the first taste of passionate years ebbed, we still enjoyed each other's company, as we remained good friends. But like any other marriages, ours is also not a bed of roses.

A highly principled man that I thought I was, I have to admit that I became unfaithful too and bore a son with another woman. The mother happens to be my first love.

It broke my heart as I stared into her eyes and her first teardrops fell when I told her about my son, Jake. I wanted her to scream at me, hit me, and be angry. She just cried and cried. The following morning, she left me with our daughter. It was the end of the world for me...

OLD WOMAN: 40 years ago, I made a decision never to fall in love again. Like you in my teens and early twenties, I once loved and lost. We were a perfect couple then. Until I lost my first love to another woman. The excruciating pain of lost love and the reality of betrayal has wounded me deeply. I vowed never to fall in love again.

Then my husband came and offered his undying friendship. Yes! We were very good friends first before we became lovers. I prayed to God so He will give me a sign if he is the right man for me. It was a less-than-a-year-romance and we decided to marry. He taught my heart well... well enough to make me whole and find real happiness that true love brings. I finally found my Mr. Right.

However, life is not a fairy tale and I have to endure another episode of broken heart. I thought true love is a force field deflecting threats. But maybe his love is not enough to keep his sanctified vow. After 12 years of marriage, I walked out of his life.

Wow! This was only halfway of their story. It was so touching and heartbreaking... but during the whole time that they were talking, they kidded with each other, teased each other with their first love and even pretended to fight.

I thought, the story they just shared has made a lasting impression on each of their lives and made their relationship what it is now. I can tell that they have been to worst times indeed, as they came out scarred but beautiful persons. I wanted to go home and cry. I now wish to grow old with someone I love after all.

We were now eating our desserts. I love the chocolate mousse! Hehehe! So dying to hear the rest of their story... I asked them how they reconciled-

"We never did." Said the old man.

I was speechless.

The old man continued... "When I heard that my wife got back from the States after 28 years, I went to see her this morning. An old man saying these things may sound so "corny" but I told her exactly these: I spent 28 years of my existence without a life because she is my life. And even when she left me and never took me back, she still owns my heart until the day that I will die. Yes, I have been unfaithful because of my lustful desires. But the loyalty of my true love is solely for her. And though I can never undo the mistake I have done, I could not force myself to disengage my love for her.

This, I know is true love. Only true love can survive such death that I feel for 28 years when she was not with me by my side. Tonight, I feel alive because she is with me.

I am so happy when I saw her still wearing our wedding ring as a pendant in her necklace. This is the first time we have dinner together after she left me. And you are here to witness it.

The old woman simply said, "I love him too much to be with him again because if I lost him for the 2nd time, I would not be able to bear it. For 28 years, I wondered if he married again or not after our annulment was granted. I never asked our daughter. They never talked to me about him."

"This morning, I do remember it is our anniversary. But I never expected to see him or even talked to him. I saw that he is still wearing our wedding ring. Oh, the old woman's heart jumped! We chatted with each other the whole day as we used to do in our younger years. We laughed a lot. We teased each other. We talked about the good times and the odd and how ugly we became. Age may have taken away our physical attributes but it cannot steal away the feelings we have for each other.

"Did we regret the past 28 years? We will not be talking about regrets. Today, we are what we are because of our choices. We cannot change what happened. But we can always change now and tomorrow..."

And so before we left after 2 hours at Blueberry's, they confidently told me these: Do call us when you decide to marry and we will be there to celebrate it with you. Love will find you because your eyes seek for it. Love will stay with you because your heart is willing to give it away. Choose well and be happy!"

What a Saturday night! I came home lighthearted with a new hope. Love will always find a way...