A Love Story

A Love like a Mountain Path

as told by SniperAngel

 

     Sometimes, our hearts become shattered into minute pieces that we tend to lose hope in finding the courage to love again. But honestly, if the sun shines inside your heart, will it even matter if there is a storm outside?

-oOo-

     We Filipinos tend to immerse ourselves in Korean Drama. Well on his case, he always enjoyed watching such shows, whether they end tragically or they have the usual happily ever after. But never in his wildest dreams did he think that he’ll experience a love story that will surpass every Korean Drama that he ever watched. No, he didn’t have leukaemia and he didn’t go blind. Rather, he went through the pain of a love that was shattered, and yet, it gave him the strength to find love again. It is a story about how fate made their paths cross, how conflicts rose one by one, and how they’ve won the fight of love.

     It was a love story of a shattered heart, a friend who waited and endured more pain than any other best friend alive. A story that proved that true love waits, that true love endures, and that true love can let go. A story that crushed the hindrances of distance, and hurdled everything just to sustain a love that deserves to be.

-oOo-

     When he decided to break up with his girlfriend a year ago, he never thought that he’d ever fall in love again. His past relationship was so heart-shattering that he almost lost everything just to sustain that relationship. He even almost lost his best friend because of it; his best friend, who confessed that she had feelings for him. To whom he said that he can never love her, because he is in love with someone else. Beyond the pain, his best friend was still there, and in time, she was able to let go of him. Oceans apart, time zones away, she’s working in Japan while he’s training in the Philippines.

     After the break-up, he prayed that if ever he’ll fall in love again, may God give him a girl who will take care of him, who will keep him inspired and in good grasp of faith. To give him a girl who will be able to understand him, and trust him completely. By the time he closed his prayer, he heard a whisper in his thoughts, “sometimes, we ask or search for something that is already in front of us.”

     Grief-stricken, his friends were there to comfort him as his ex-girlfriend’s acquaintances started to assault him with threats through e-mail, text and messages through messenger. His feelings were calmed when a friend told him, “You are a free man now, your heart is already shattered and it is time to collect the broken pieces. If your heart is as brittle as glass, then get a glassblower to create a brand new heart.”

-oOo-

     One fateful day, a friend told him, “Not all people can wait a lifetime for love. I know she loves you, and you love her as well. She’s been battered all her life from lost loves and I cannot assure you if she’d still be able to accept your love if it will come too late.”

     Coming to a decision, he bought three roses; red, peach and white. That peaceful afternoon of March 14th 2007, almost 3000 kilometres apart, he said these words to her:

“You’ve been in my life for almost a year now…

And we shared happy and sad memories along the way…

You’ve been my best friend and a woolly towel that comforted me and kept my sanity intact…

I know I brought you some painful instances as we turned the pages…

But now…

I would like to ask you something…

Would you be my girlfriend…?“

And she said yes…

-oOo-

     Ultimately, love conquered all the tension and doubts. It calmed two tortured souls and forged a fragile, brand new love that almost didn’t come into being. A love that was tested through pain once more in a series of verbal assaults from people who cannot accept the fact that when the heart chooses to give up on a relationship, it will soon find another soul who will be able to understand him, to take care of him.

     The relationship was in a constant fight for survival in the succeeding months. But instead of being torn apart, it was like an embrace locked so tight, hearts beating as one, that it enabled itself to endure the pain. True love may be so painful and bitter to behold, but it will make its own way to thrive, to survive, and to live.

     Every month that passed seemed like a year considering the trials they’ve hurdled. The priceless conversations they had have kept them holding on despite the distance. Every morning is like a new, meaningful tomorrow waiting to be enjoyed together. When someone is in love, it hastens the passage of time and before you know it, days have passed already; days melding into months, months into almost a year…

-oOo-

     Few days ago, they committed themselves to a promise. One calm night while gazing at the stars, he told her, “I was planning to tell you this on our first anniversary, but it looks like I need to say this to you right now…

I promise…

that you will be the woman I’m going to marry…

the one who’ll take care of my children…

the one I will share my life with…

the face I want to see every morning…

and the last face I’ll see before I die.”

-oOo-

     Love can create a totally new person in us. It can make you a warrior, a fighter all for the sake of the one you love the most. In his story, even if the world tried to break them apart, the fight did end, and ultimately, as always, love won. Love always wins.

 

     Now why is his love like a mountain path? When you want to reach a mountain summit, you cannot go there directly. There are no shortcuts. You must climb your way through all the obstacles and hindrances to reach your goal. There are some instances wherein you’ll get hurt and wounded, and there will be a time that you’ll ask yourself if you should still proceed with this endeavour. The path going there is tough, but once you reach the summit and see the clouds passing by and waving their wisps at you, all the pain and suffering will just melt away.

     That is how a mountaineer conquers the summit. And that is how love conquers all.