Love Actually...

I was recently introduced to this couple, whom are the most amazingly frank in a kinda sweet way. Their love for each other is just as sweet as they are. Their love life is a story by itself. A story that i seek permission from them to write. A story that touched me. A story that inspired to seek love. A story that speaks of what i believe in : fate.

Do you believe in fate? Do you believe in, like Natalie sings in her song “where are you”, that there’s someone out there for you?
(note : names have been changed to protect the couple's identity, afterall this is really their private life, whom they never did expect me to write about).

John & Mary : Their Love Story :
Their first brush together was as neighbors when they were young back in Malaysia,Ipoh. Living along the same street, it’s natural that John and Mary got along, and played as a group when they were around five. Shortly after they met, Mary moved two streets away from John, closing all contact between them, and they never met again till they were ten.

A regular truck that peddles wares & vegetables for the town area, that both John & Mary resides at, brought them to cross their paths once again. The truck stops outside John’s place every week. Without fail, Mary’s maid would patronize the truck to buy the week’s groceries, and bringing Mary along. That’s when Mary realized John had never moved from his old place. But they never did talk. Belonging to a small community, Mary shared the same tennis coach as John did. And it was then John and Mary met again and reacquainted, sharing their love. Those precious hours together gave them more time to learn about each other, and that’s when their first love blossomed.

At about twelve, John had to move with his family out of the area. Under his parents’ orders not to inform anyone of their whereabouts, John couldn’t tell Mary, leaving Mary distraught and upset as to why John left without a word. As soon as John had finally relocated and settled into his new surroundings, he wrote to all his friends back at his old school and neighbors of his lack of notice for the change of environment. With the exchange of a few letters, John and Mary stopped writing.

John went onto attending college out in Adelaide, and Mary went onto college out in Perth. They both started dating other people. But deep inside, Mary still thought about John and the what-ifs. She was due to be engaged to her other half. But that thought of John has left questions unanswered, and so she decided to seek for closure and an answer. Mary brought out Adelaide’s YellowPages and got a friend to help her call every single family with the same last name as John. Thankfully, John had a unique last name, and Mary managed to locate John. On the other end of the line was a Malaysian-sounding man asking for John, and immediately John instinctively knew that it was Mary who planned the call. John and Mary then had a three hour long conversation catching up on old times, promising to keep in touch with the exchange of contact information. John didn’t keep to his promises, neither was he bothered by the call, as at this time, he was dating someone else.

John broke up with his girlfriend then shortly. John had a birthday bash when he was 21 with a 120 guests that turn up but he never felt more alone than he is amidst the crowd. He came to his realization that he has always been dating and would end the relationship at some point til certain level of commitment and he felt that something was really wrong with him. He then realize that perhaps it was because he never had closure with Mary. He decides to write her a letter. A 5 pages full of his heart and soul and what he felt throughout theses years letter. He lost Mary’s contact thru the years ,he decided to mail the letter back to Malaysia, where she’s from. As Mary’s parents do not send her mail to her, she didn’t manage to read the letter till she went back for summer. John waited for a reply for six months. The reply was that of shocking, it was a card that read on the outside : thinking of you. But the last line to the card was along the lines of indication that Mary would no longer want to be in contact with John ever again in their life. Of course, like all women, Mary left her contact information along with photographs of herself.

John wrote a four page letter in reply of Mary’s card. Words that were both touching and heart-wrenching. Mary was due to be married and was left confused. Out of concern for Mary, Mary’s friend made a call to John asking him about the letters, in search for an answer for Mary. John replied nonchalantly that what he wrote to Mary has nothing to do with Mary’s friend. It was only later that John found out Mary ended up breaking the engagement, failing to get married, and had moved to Singapore to start anew.

At that time, John decided to finish his school, and to seek work in Singapore, to be with Mary. They did eventually meet in Singapore. And they’re now happily married. How long did they date? They refuse to tell me, only disclosing that it is not what’s recommended to most couples. I envy their closeness, the way they share their laughter and joy, and the way they think. I wish them all the best.

To John & Mary, thanks for letting me share your story in words. Truly, both of you have really inspired me.