You know, most of my writing time is taken up by Iraq. Her deaths, her misery, her plight, her agonies, her destruction, her loss of identity...
I find myself negotiating with Time, trying to out maneuver Him...I find myself stealing moments away from Her, because I have this deep need to renew ties with some other reality, another reality that I know exists in parallel to mine...
Such long awaited moments were granted to me this evening...
W. is a part time student/waiter in this café that I frequently go to. W. is one of the most pleasant, kind person I have ever come across. He must be around 25 or so, newly married, and just very nice to talk to.
W. was not terribly busy this evening and I could tell he wanted to chat a little.
He usually calls me Ma'am out of respect even though I always call him by his first name...I suppose that has to do with the age difference and the fact that am regular client of this place.
W. timidly approached my table and asked me in his usual manner if I wanted anything else to drink...My glass was still full, and he obviously saw it too, so I guessed he just wanted to talk...so I let him.
He talked about his studies, his plans for the future, his wife...and relations.
And am not sure how it came about, but I asked him how he met his wife and how it all happened...
So he went into great details about he met her, and how trust was so important between a man and a woman...so we spoke about trust.
I asked him if there was absolute trust between his wife and himself and he said yes absolutely.
So I probed a little further and asked him how did this trust come about ?
He told me that at first, his wife did not trust him much, neither did he trust her...she would pry on him and check his mobile for messages, try to find out who emailed him...etc...and he did the same.
He continued candidly...
- I made my life and hers easy, I gave her my mobile and all my passwords...
- You did ???
- Yes, why shouldn't I ? I have nothing to hide...If that will appease her, let her have access to all my secrets...
- So you feared nothing ?
- Of course not, Ma'am. Why should I fear ? I love her and I decided to marry her. So am hers and she is mine. I have nothing to hide.
I just went...WOW.
This young 25 year old man left me speechless in his candor, simplicity and good faith...
So I said to him :
- You must have had some really good role models, am sure your parents loved one another and hid nothing...
- Sure Ma'am they did. However hard I try, I will never be able to be like them.
- So what were they like, together, W. ?
- Oh Ma'am, you will not believe it...They were married for over 35 years, my father never cheated on my mom. When she seriously fell ill, he sold everything he had, everything Ma'am for her to get the adequate medical care. He stood by her day and night, for three years. After she recovered from her illness, by a few months, he passed away...he passed away and she lived on...He gave her his life.
- And what about your Mum, did she ever think of remarrying ?
- Are you joking Ma'am ?! He is still her husband. No one will ever replace him.
- All of that still exists W. ?
- Yes Ma'am, it does...look at me and my wife. We are like that too.
I must admit, I was speechless...
I had lost faith in such kind of Love, and W. in the space of a few minutes renewed and restored an inkling of faith in it. It still existed and it was still possible...
And W. was/is a living example of it.
Tonight, I felt truly blessed...I was given a gift...a warm ray of its existence, a few drops of its limpid water...