domingo, 13 de janeiro de 2013

Chapter 2 : The beginning without an end




Chapter 2 : The beginning without an end  

In my adulthood, my problems with food, or at least the lack there of, had already gotten much better.  I went through some difficulties, just as I still do, but nothing compared to when I was a child.  I had already become an English teacher and taught in various schools, but one in particular was something special.  It's a school located downtown where I grew up and it’s a place where young-adult students liked to meet up as well as meet other students.  I had multiple interesting semesters of teaching there and I had excellent relationships with my students.  
            It was in front of this school that Xadu (Andre), one of my favorite students at that time and one of my best friends even today, introduced me to his best friend, Alexsander.  Yes, Alexander is eight years younger than me, and no, at this time we did not begin to date.  Alexsander has never been one of my students; he studied in a different city. Besides, I never had a relationship with a student, but, from that point forward we were always friends. I have always had a great friendship with that group. We laughed a lot, went out together, hung out at each others’ houses, played the guitar and sang together, but we never imagined that our group of friends would help create the happiest marriage in the world! 
            About five years after we were introduced, Alexsander and I suddenly fell in love. No one knows how to explain it. Not even we have been able to. If you asked who made the first move... You'd find out that neither one of us knows who started to like whom first, however, we believe we fell in love together. Some things only God knows.
            We always talked about everything in our lives, aside from the difference in our ages, I have never learned so much with a person like I have learned with him.  Everything he has taught me as a person will always be with me. To tell you the truth, I believe we learned from each other. He learned to persevere and go after his objectives. Also, to have maturity and establish goals. To value the little that we have and to thank God for everything that He has given us. No matter how much, there is always something to be thankful for. I learned to love those around me more. To forgive and to be more patient with others. I learned that forgiving is a lot more important than revenge and that it isn't necessary to have resentment and grief over things in the past. I learned what it means to have tolerance.  I learned that those who I judge to be wrong are, in all actuality, people that need me to learn that when you get tangled up in deciding who is right and who is wrong you end up pushing people away. I learned to smile and what it means to burst into fits of laughter - the kind that hurt your stomach and make it so you can't breathe. I learned to love and to be loved.
            When I introduced him to my dad it was very strange. Yes, I say strange because this is a good way to describe the relationship of my father with the world. He never talks to people; always keeping to himself while looking into the distance.  One person who used to come around our house sedulously thought, for three months straight, that he was mute, but never had the courage to ask me. They thought it would upset me to bring up that subject because I had never said anything. (neither had my dad!).
            The sister of one of my sister in-laws thought he was blind because anytime he spoke it was very little and when he spoke he always looked away; directing his attention to the ceiling and the walls. One day, she was alone in the living room with him and considered making faces at him, certain that he wouldn't see, but she began to sympathize with him and thought about how he got around so well alone without hitting the furniture inside the house. When she discovered he wasn't blind and told us about it, we almost died from laughter.  
            My father never engaged himself with any of my friends.  When me or my sister would bring a boyfriend home, or even my brothers with their girlfriends, he was very limited in shaking hands and made faint sounds that we could understand as "how you doing?" Well, when my dad looked at Alexsander and said "Hey, nice to meet you. So it’s you who will give me a grandson?" - he smiled real big and repeated out loud: "ah, so it is you who will give me a grandson. That's wonderful!" - Just imagine us standing there with our mouths wide open.
            We always thought my dad was a bit sensitive, but Alex didn't have any idea and sat there without knowing what to say.  Four months after, I came strolling into the house and announced:
            - Dad, we have a surprise for you!
            His response, before I could say anything:
            - Woah, I’m having a grandson!!!!
            That really was his response.

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