Ngayon at Kailan Man

By: Pureza Ramiro Pacis

 

Dear Tita Eza:

Naaliw ako sa mga kuwento ng pag-ibig sa inyong column. Eto naman ang aking love story.

Deretso galing sa atin, mga bandang ‘70’s, sa Minnesota ang aking first job, sa St. Paul’s newspaper sa tulong aking childhood friend.

Not long after, lumipat siya sa Chicago for her new job habang naiwan ako with our Asian boardmate. Ipinakilala ako kay Randolph. Sa madalas naming pagtatagpong tatlo, naging matalik kami na mutual friends.

Nang may opportunity akong magtrabaho sa New York University, lumipat ako doon. While there, tumatawag si Randolph sa akin, hindi lang paminsan-minsan kungdi palagi. Naging curious tuloy ang aking co-workers at nang tanungin ako ng tungkol sa kanya, sinabi ko na siya’y law student, six- footer, puti, pogi at mabait. Tukso nila, mabait pala, eh di balikan ko na.

Yon nga ang nangyari. Bumalik ako at nagtrabaho ako sa Minneapolis Welfare Department. Naging close kami ni Randolph at sinabi nyang he would marry me if his mother approves of me. Sa Vegas ako dinala kung saan nakatira ang kanyang parents. Agad-agad namang binigay sa amin ang kanilang blessings for us to get married, kung kalian namin gusto.

Ang hindi ko inaasahan, not so long after, pinuntahan ako ng kanyang kapatid sa aking opisina sa St.Paul, convincing me to stay away from Randolph, kesyo daw ang kanilang parents ay, sa totoo lang, racists and his brother and I may never meant to live happily ever after. Ayon sa kanya, ang ipinakita ng parents nila sa akin ay front lang nila; plastik. We got married anyway at naging sponsor pa namin ang aking Welfare Supervisor.

Dalawa ang bunga ng aming pagmamahalan. The eldest, Gabrielle, works as Child Protection Worker in Hennedin County, New Jersey; dalawa ang apo namin from her and Ronald. The younger one, Christy, is completing her Master’s in Journalism at NYU. Active kaming dalawa ni Randolph sa Filipino community afffairs. Active pa rin siya sa kanyang law practice. He speaks fluent Tagalog, at mababasa niya at maiintindihan itong isinulat ko.

Gumagalang,

Josephine

 

Mahal kong Josephine:

Mabuti’t hindi mo pinakinggan noon ang brother-in-law mo. Yon ang tawag nila na triumph of love. Love prevails, talaga, ngayon at kailan man. Gusto ko lang ibahagi sa inyo ang one of the most memorable speeches in the film history:

“I’m sure you know what you’re up against. There’ll be a hundred million people in this whole country who will be shocked and and offended and appalled at the two of you getting married. And the two of you will just have to ride that out., maybe everyday for the rest of your lives. You can try to ignore those people and just feel sorry for them and for their prejudices and their bigotry and their blind hatreds and stupid fears. Bite where necessary, you’ll just have to cling to each other and say, “Screw to all these people.” Anybody could make a case, and a hell of of a good case, against your getting married. The arguments are so obvious that nobody has to make them. But you’re two wonderful people who happened to fall in love and happened to have a pigmentation problem. And I think that now, no matter what kind of case some bastard could make against your getting married, there would only be something worse. And that would be if knowing what you are, knowing what you two have, and knowing what you two feel – you didn’t get married.

-Spencer Tracy in “Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner”

Nagmamahal,

Tita Eza