Twists and Turns

Truly, God works in wonders! I might have prayed myriad times for a knight in shining armor to come in my rescue when I was down and out but never did I expect Him to be exceptionally magnanimous to give in to my unfeasible reverie — in His own sweet time…

My sympathetic friends never got worn-out from encouraging me to start afresh and overcome my irrational fear when I was on the road to recovery from a spiteful connubial experience. I’ve tried my best to do so but the idea of getting into another relationship after my failed marriage seemed preposterous for me. I convinced myself compellingly that I would never ever love again. So when I was introduced to an architect through hackneyed SMS, with all honesty I describe myself as a separated woman with one precious child and don’t believe in love. Surprisingly, he requested whether we could share camaraderie by means of writing and asked if I could send him a snapshot of my baby and evidently, myself. He was in the Middle East then, working in a small Interior Design company. He was brutally forthright to divulge that we couldn’t continue being text mates as he’s not earning that much to sustain those unreasonably expensive phone cards.

Without shilly-shallying, he became my first pen pal ever. I knew it was too stale for my predilection but out of intense boredom, I gave it a shot. What’s more, I felt at ease not being able to see him personally as I deem befriending a complete stranger from another planet shouldn’t harm me in any possible way. We then went on exchanging photographs and bits of info about ourselves and to my enchantment; I learned that he was born on August the 15th too! It was the very same momentous day I gave birth to my lovely little princess. And coincidentally, I also share the same birthday as his late father. ‘Perhaps we were meant to be friends’, I thought gleefully.

In the lengthy process of getting to know each other, we discovered that we both have trivial and noteworthy things in common. We are both a zealous fan of Garfield. (You may find it hilarious but his signature seemingly resembles Garfield’s face.) And halfheartedly, he revealed that he was also once grief-stricken and has not wholly recovered since. His fiancée apparently dumped him for a wealthy Japanese man and that’s how he deliberately landed in KSA. ‘It was too painful to bear so I have no choice but to go miles away to get her out of my system’, he acrimoniously recalled.

Undeniably, it felt like we’ve been rob of our greatest dreams. It was indeed a vast catastrophe for us to have ridden the same wrecked love boat but unfalteringly, we traded consoling words to haul up our dampened spirits and reconstruct our self-worth — week after week. That’s how we found ourselves smiling buoyantly again, gradually becoming oblivious of our past heartaches, and unstoppably sharing stories about almost anything and everything under the sun — even the minutest details about ourselves, the things that rouse our interests, and the people that surround us. And we before we knew it, we became the best of friends after a year of bartering inspirational, brain stimulating, and therapeutic epistles. And yes we really did, without seeing each other in person.

What happened consequently never ceases to amaze me until this very moment. According to the grapevine, an enamored eligible bachelor has implausibly fallen for an alienated woman with a child in tow! When he confessed his feelings unwaveringly, I had sundry indescribable emotions. My intensely awakened senses reminded me not to be naively gullible to cast my trust to a man I have never met in the real world. So holding back the sudden rush of euphoria I felt initially, I advised him tirelessly to find an unattached woman he robustly deserves. But the more I pushed him away, the more he clung snugly until one fateful day — he flew back to the Philippines and he valiantly traversed the way to my far flung province to meet my family and my daughter to prove his utmost sincerity. My family was profoundly impressed by his genuine intentions when he asked my little girl to address him as daddy the moment they met. It was simply unbelievable and dreadfully exhilarating!

Truth be told, I must say I have also inadvertently fallen for him since time immemorial. I was just too petrified to admit it to myself or to anyone. I knew in my heart that he is the sort of man every woman desires to be with but I kept my reservations because on the contrary, I am obviously not the kind of woman a man would ever dream to cherish. I was then caught in the crossroads of indecision on whether to accept him and take the big risk of being hurt again or stuck to my own sworn words never to love again. Though my family adores him as much as I do, they were uncertain too in accommodating his proposal to let him take good care of us. Except when he began to give my daughter monetary support, all our qualms began to fade away.

‘That overconfident fellow must have been powerfully hit by cupid’s arrow’, I thought while wearing a wide grin in my face. It felt surreal but I started to digest the truthful circumstances instinctively. The love-struck chap is undoubtedly harmless and benevolent so what’s there to wait? I booked an air ticket back to Manila, elated and overwhelmed to finally meet my bizarre second chance. Amazingly, everything just fell into place. I found myself mesmerized by him and felt my heart soar to the skies like never before. I have never met a man quite like my twin soul — and what a quirk of fate has brought us together! I didn’t just grab a ‘big catch’ in my providential hands — I believed God made a mammoth miracle He specially tailored and perfected for a hopeless romantic ME!