A Journey of Enduring Love

“Hearts united in pain and sorrow

           will not be separated by joy and happiness.

                    Bonds that  are woven in sadness

                            are stronger than the ties of joy and pleasure.

                                  Love that is washed by tears

                                             will remain eternally pure and beautiful.”

This mystic poem of Kahlil Gibran written in  the 18^th century traced the journey of enduring love even in the midst of relationship crises in our present day. The kind of union instituted by God in the beginning is now marred by the material world and the rat race of life. However, I had two rare finds out there in that barren land - the love of Edwin and Sylvia, Ravi and Jonalyn.

Edwin is an engineer by profession and an employee of one of the prestigious  government agencies in the Philippines (DPWH). A soft spoken man, very patient, sincere with his dealings and through his eyes, true love from his soul  to his wife couldn’t be hidden. I thought he was a very silent man, but in our small group he bared his soul. His family loved travel. They made it a point to take their children along with them in their tour of the country. They preferred  travel than building a luxurious house. He has a sense of humor too. He made a pact with his children not to sell the property across the street when they’re gone. When pressed why? He retorted, because they do not belong to us!

Sylvia, a business woman looked like an actress or a pampered rich. During our tete-a-tete while waiting for our flight I learned from her that she hated boredom doing nothing. She used to sell dried fish, cooked boxes of spaghetti and delivered them to her husband’s officemates. Then she was into selling used clothing, investing in Mary Kay beauty products and Herbal food supplements. Her husband at first didn’t like the idea but found himself helping  Sylvia after his office hours. Sylvia couldn’t keep quiet if she spotted problems in our travel. She was so courageous and outspoken. One couldn’t believe  that all these traits  were bundled inside an attractive package, a  young pretty face and flawless skin.

Opposite poles attract. Engineers know this. When they attract  they are glued. Edwin and Sylvia were married for 19 years and with the kind of union of opposites their love would  see them through all barriers for many more years to come.

       “It is a perfect understanding

                Between a man and woman...And it happens

                       In the blinking of an eye. This affinity

                            Is born in a single moment and is greater

                                Than all other affinities, this spiritual

                                                       conversion we call: Love.”

The love of Ravi and Jonalyn knew no land nor creed. Jonalyn was my former student in high school 20 years ago. I didn’t see her after graduation and 20 years after we met in Facebook. Upon knowing I was in Dubai that date she and her  classmate, Rosanna went to my hotel one Friday afternoon to meet their long lost teacher. I was honored by their presence especially so that Jon’s husband was with them. Ravi, that was his name was holding their son who according to him was most awaited. It was gifted to them after 6 years  of marriage.

Ravi was a Precision Engineer at Multi Technologies FZE in Dubai. He has classic  facial features of an Indian. He was as tall as any Filipino, dark and handsome. He obliged to drive us to IBM Batuta as suggested by Jon. It was a long drive but I was not oblivious of time because Ravi was so entertaining and very  intelligent. From our exchange of ideas what stuck most in my mind was his statement that his creed was not a religion but a way of life. One has to do things the right way even if no one was looking. It would be a healthy feeling  to know that one respected others rights. Ravi was a principled man as gleaned from his  ideas. I was happy to know that my former student was married to  this  loving man and highly spiritual.

Jonalyn was a naïve lady the last time I knew her...But now she has transformed into a responsible lady, a wife and mother. She still carried with her the Filipino trait of being true to one’s husband. Since she married Ravi, she chose to stay home and be there for her husband to go home to. She embraced her husbands way of life and there was no doubt that the affinity between them was a “spiritual conversion called Love”. They have been married for seven years now but with the kind of chemistry in their union, love would triumph until the “eyes grow dim and the head with its silver linings”.

Edwin and Sylvia, Ravi and Jonalyn have given us a specimen of real love. Two engineers as head of each family with equally supportive wives have chosen the right course although “oftentimes painful and difficult path”  as they would journey on but --- “you cannot reach dawn unless you travel the dark of night.”    

The author of this blog has been with her husband for 42 years and had just celebrated their anniversary a few days ago