Despite all odds…

  I had a very hearty and delicious dinner with my relatives last night. It was a despedida of one of my cousin who will be leaving today with her husband for United States. She was petitioned by her husband, who is also a Filipino and already staying there with his family. Biologically, she is not really my cousin, she is a daughter of my oldest first cousin, so that makes her my niece. But there is a little generation gap…so we always treat each other cousins (she even calls me “ate” instead of “tita”). She is the same age as my  sister, they even went to the same schools together in grade school and high school.

Before she met her husband, she already had a son out of wedlock, which all of us did not have any idea with the identity of the father. Newly graduate that time and to support her child and help her family, she worked as a freelancer nurse anywhere and everywhere then eventually decided to try her luck in the Middle East where she worked  for almost 5 years.  She met her husband now through intenet, who was introduced and bestfriend of her ex-boyfriend (ironic…isn’t it??). They got along very well through chatting and through phone. Unknowingly, while she was in the Middle East, her father got into a drug related case and was imprisoned (he is now out of prison but the case is not yet close). Her family kept this information from her, however, she accidentally known this one day and she came home immediately bringing as much money as she had and as she could lend. But then, she realized that she cannot do anything…it was not enough and she cannot do anything from here, either. So she decided to return back to Middle East to continue working. After a year, she and her husband had a vacation at the same time and met personally for the first time. She introduced him to our relatives laying all the cards about her. Another year passed and they got married…a beach wedding…in our province. That was nothing like she never thought her wedding would be like, but she was ecstatic.  

I salute her husband, despite everything about my cousin’s background. He and his family accepted her without any question and gave his unconditional love. She is feeling very satisfied with herself.  He is taking good care of her and her family.  Despite everything, she felt content. She loves him, and she is pretty sure that he loves her back….and more. She said that she might not loved him with all her being…..for now…..but she is sure welcoming the idea of falling deeply for him in the future..which no doubt she will.  It was great knowing my cousin found that kind of man in her life. It’s taken this long, but now she knows what she needs to do. He might not be a perfect man for her but he is a very sentitive and considerate name to the feelings of others, unselfish and compassionate. There would be a sinking feeling in her stomach once she boards the plane tomorrow knowing they would be together for a longer time in a strange place for her. We are happy to see her go because we know he loved her dearly and he only wants the best for her. Goodluck couz…

It might be true that “We do not fall in love with beautiful people; we find them beautiful because we love them”.

 And today, I had to do twice my turbo jam to loose the calories I had last night from all the seafoods that we ate…. and maybe a walk or a jog over the weekend…