My Love Story

by Maria Concepcion dela Rosa-Wolff
'57

When I was just a ‘lil girl (I still am),
A haughty girl of thirteen
Love to me was nothing
And I considered it an ordinary thing.

I liked one “because he’s handsome”
And another “because he’s gallant”
Nothing mattered provided he’s cute
Even if he be the dumbest mute.

But when I turned sixteen
And I met a boy of seventeen
So fascinated was I to him
That I didn’t know what world I was in.

This went on and on
until I was eighteen
Love to me then was something
Which was such a wonderful thing!

I liked the way he combed his hair
Just to sniff his YSL pomade when he was near
was already ‘heaven’ to me.
I ooh’d and aah’d at his daily white attire
Perfectly worn with utmost care..

He was an Atenean from Davao
A perfect gentleman at all times
It was love at first sight
For the both of us from day one.

But our destiny wasn’t meant to be
For fate intervened along the way
My strict brother got in the way
When Paul professed his love for me.

A Beta Sigman in UP
He took law to heart
Became a successful lawyer and professor
A long-time court judge soon after that.

We parted ways when we graduated
He went back to Davao and I to Manila
But distance could not keep us apart
I constantly thought of him and he of me.

We crossed paths several years later
and over lunch told our own stories
He said he was going to prove himself worthy
and woo me back after his bar
Only to find out I had gotten married
on the day he was to take it.
He waited much too long, he said,
something he regretted
for the rest of his life

Drinking his wine with shaky hands,
He related sadly that while he was a success
Things would have been different
Had it been the two of us together.

And I was too proud to call him,
or write him, I said,
For fear of being misjudged wrongly.
Pride, oh, foolish pride
See what you had gotten us into
A love lost, forever gone.

And now, I could not help but think
Of how my life would have been with him
Four lovely, chinky-eyed kids …
All of us happily playing
in our backyard of orchards and roses
in beautiful, scenic Davao.

‘First love never ever dies,’ so they say
And that has been true for me
And maybe for each one of you, too.
So go tell your children and loved ones,
When love beckons the first time,
Make it happen, don’t wait
Follow your heart and have no regrets,
You may never have another chance
Your chance of a lifetime
of true happiness and bliss.


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