The Blessing You Didn't Know

A sad short story about a man who waited too long. True love was right under his
nose all along but he was so busy searching for it, he actually missed it
totally.

There was this guy who believed very much in true love and decided to take his
time to wait for his right girl to appear. He believed that there would
definitely be someone special out there for him, but none came.
Every year at Christmas, his ex-girlfriend would return from Vancouver to look
him up. He was aware that she still held some hope of re-kindling the past
romance with him. He did not wish to mislead her in any way. So he would always
get one of his girl friends to pose as his steady whenever she came back.
That went on for several years and each year, the guy would get a different girl
to pose as his romantic interest. So whenever the ex-girlfriend came to visit
him, she would be led into believing that it was all over between her and the
guy.

The girl took all those rather well, often trying to casually tease him about
his different girlfriends, or so, as it seemed! In fact, the girl often wept in
secret whenever she saw him with another girl, but she was too proud to admit
it. Still, every Christmas, she returned, hoping to re-kindle some form of
romance. But each time, she returned to Vancouver feeling disappointed.
Finally she decided that she could not play that game any longer. Therefore, she
confronted him and professed that after all those years, he was still the only
man that she had ever loved. Although the guy knew of her feelings for him, he
was still taken back and have never expected her to react that way. He always
thought that she would slowly forget about him over time and come to terms that
it was all over between them. Although he was touched by her undying love for
him and wanted so much to accept her again, he remembered why he rejected her in
the first place-she was not the one he wanted. So he hardened his heart and
turned her down cruelly. Since then, three years have passed and the girl never
return anymore. They never even wrote to each other. The guy went on with his
life..... still searching for the one but somehow deep inside him, he missed the
girl
.
On the Christmas of 1995, he went to his friend's party alone. "Hey, how come
all alone this year? Where are all your girlfriends? What happened to that
Vancouver babe who joins you every Christmas?", asked one of his friend. He felt
warm and comforted by his friend's queries about her, still he just surged on.
Then, he came upon one of his many girlfriends whom he once requested to pose as
his steady. He wanted so much to ignore her ..... not that he was impolite, but
because at that moment, he just didn't feel comfortable with those girlfriends
anymore. It was almost like he was being judged by them. The girl saw him and
shouted across the floor for him. Unable to avoid her, he went up to acknowledge her.

"Hi......how are you? Enjoying the party?" the girl asked.

"Sure.....yeah!", he replied.

She was slightly tipsy..... must be from the whiskey on her hand. She continued,

"Why...? Don't you need someone to pose as your girlfriend this year?" Then he
answered, "No, there is no need for that anymore......"

Before he can continue, he was interrupted, "Oh yes! Must have found a
girlfriend! You haven't been searching for one for the past years, right?" The
man looked up, as if he has struck gold, his face beamed and looked directly at
the drunken girl. He replied, "Yes......you are right! I haven't been looking
for anyone for the past years."
With that, the man darted across the floor and out the door, leaving the lady in
much bewilderment. He finally realized that he has already found his dream girl,
and she was.....the Vancouver girl all along! The drunken lady has said
something that awoken him.

All along he has found his girl. That was why he did not bother to look further
when he realized she was not coming back. It was not any specific girl he was
seeking! It was perfection that he wanted, and yes.....perfection!!
Relationship is something both parties should work on. Realizing that he had let
away someone so important in his life, he decided to call her immediately. His
whole mind was flooded with fear. He was afraid that she might have found
someone new or no longer had the same feelings anymore..... For once, he felt
the fear of losing someone.

As it was Christmas eve, the line was quite hard to get through, especially an
overseas call. He tried again and again, never giving up. Finally, he got
through......precisely at 1200 midnight. He confessed his love for her and the
girl was moved to tears. It seemed that she never got over him! Even after so
long, she was still waiting for him, never giving up.
He was so excited to meet her and to begin his new chapter of their lives. He
decided to fly to Vancouver to join her. It was the happiest time of their
lives! But their happy time was short-lived. Two days before he was supposed to
fly to Vancouver, he received a call from her father. She had a head-on car
collision with a drunken driver. She passed away after 6 hours in a coma.
The guy was devastated, as it was a complete loss. Why did fate played such
cruel games with him? He cursed the heaven for taking her away from him, denying
even one last look at her! How cruel he cursed! How he damned the Gods...!! How
he hated himself....for taking so long to realize his mistake!! That was in
1996.


The moral of this story is : -
Treasure what you have...
Time is too slow for those who wait;
Too swift for those who fear;
Too long for those who grief;
Too short for those who rejoice;
But for those who love...
Time is Eternity.

For all you out there with someone special in your heart, cherish that person,
cherish every moment that you spend together that special someone, for in life,
anything can happen anytime. You may painfully regret, only to realise that it
is too late.

A Silent Love

Love transcends everything, including the one gift we take so often for granted,
speech. A touching story with a tear-jerking ending which shows true love is
patient and will be a shining light in moments of despair.


From the very Begining, the girl's family objected strongly on her dating this
guy. Saying that it has got to do with family background & that the girl will
have to suffer for the rest of her life if she were to be with him.
Due to family's pressure, the couple quarrel very often. Though the girl love
the guy deeply, but she always ask him: "How deep is your love for me?"
As the guy is not good with his words, this often cause the girl to be very
upset. With that & the family's pressure, the girl often vent her anger on him.
As for him, he only endure it in silence.


After a couple of years, the guy finally graduated & decided to further his
studies in overseas. Before leaving, he proposed to the girl: "I'm not very good
with words. But all I know is that I love you. If you allow me, I will take care
of you for the rest of my life. As for your family, I'll try my best to talk
them round. Will you marry me?"


The girl agreed, & with the guy's determination, the family finally gave in &
agreed to let them get married. So before he leave, they got engaged.
The girl went out to the working society, whereas the guy was overseas,
continuing his studies. They sent their love through emails & phone calls.
Though it's hard, but both never thought of giving up.


One day, while the girl was on her way to work, she was knocked down by a car
that lost control. When she woke up, she saw her parents beside her bed. She
realised that she was badly injured. Seeing her mum crying, she wanted to
comfort her. But she realized that all that could come out of her mouth was just
a sigh. She has lost her voice......
The doctors says that the impact on her brain has caused her to lose her voice.
Listening to her parents' comfort, but with nothing coming out from her, she
broke down.
During the stay in hospital, besides silence cry,.....it's still just silence
cry that companied her. Upon reaching home, everything seems to be the same.
Except for the ringing tone of the phone. Which pierced into her heart everytime
it rang. She does not wish to let the guy know. & not wanting to be a burden to
him, she wrote a letter to him saying that she does not wish to wait any longer.
With that, she sent the ring back to him. In return, the guy sent millions &
millions of reply, and countless of phonecalls,.. all the girl could do, besides
crying, is still crying....


The parents decided to move away, hoping that she could eventually forget
everything & be happy.
With a new environment, the girl learn sign language & started a new life.
Telling herself everyday that she must forget the guy. One day, her friend came
& told her that he's back. She asked her friend not to let him know what
happened to her. Since then, there wasn't anymore news of him.


A year has passed & her friend came with an envelope, containing an invitation
card for the guy's wedding. The girl was shattered. When she open the letter,
she saw her name in it instead.
When she was about to ask her friend what's going on, she saw the guy standing
in front of her. He used sign language telling her "I've spent a year's time to
learn sign language. Just to let you know that I've not forgotten our promise.
Let me have the chance to be your voice. I Love You. With that, he slipped the
ring back into her finger. The girl finally smiled.

The Last Words

It had been raining for more than a week, so much rain it made everyday seemed so restless and gloomy. She called and said she was coming up. It was the third time she came up to see me that week. I carried her excuse of why she came all the way here and went to meet her at the nearby seven-eleven. She was standing there alone, carrying her red umbrella. Her friend had dropped her off. It was raining and she was shivering. She looked weak and fragile in the harsh rain, wearing not enough to keep her warm.

I walked up to her and said, "You shouldn't come see me anymore," and stuff like how we shouldn't be together.

She said, "I miss you."

I told her coldly, "Lets go, I'll take you home."

She did not open up her umbrella, I knew she wanted to share mine.

I said, "Open up your umbrella, let's go."

Unwillingly, She opened up her umbrella and walked with me to the car. She said she hadn't eat lunch or dinner and asked if we could stop at some place to eat.

Right away I answered with a stoned heart, "No!"

Disappointed, she asked me to take her to the train station, she said she would take the train back home.

Maybe it was the rain, all the trains were full of people with umbrellas and suit cases who were eager to get home, not caring about who just passed by. We waited and waited, she looked at me innocently. Being together for so long, of course I knew what she meant. I understand how she must feel when she came all this way here in this kind of weather and I treat her like this. With her soft eyes staring at me, I felt guilt and wanted to let her stay for the night.

But reality struck again, I said to her coldly, "Let's go try the other train station."

We were living in the same apartment building, on the same floor. Back then there were four of us, and we got along well. We would always eat dinner together, watch movies, and sometimes go camping. We were more like a family, but I didn't know I would end up falling in love with the only girl of the four. Maybe it was during the last year of college, having living together for two years, we developed deep feelings for each other. After she graduated she went back home, and I stayed for one more year to finish school. During that year I was only able to take the train down to see her on holidays, but never for long. That was how we kept the treasured relationship.

We were walking along the side of the road. She was in front of me and I was right behind her. Her umbrella had a broken spoke. She looked liked a wounded soldier, carrying her rusted rifle walking weakly. Many times, she was too into thinking or whatever she was doing, drifting off the road, she almost got hit by the cars passing by. I wanted to just take her in my arms, but with the love I had for her and the constant pain in my stomach, I did nothing. On the way, we passed by the park where we use to always go.

She begged and said, "Lets go in the park just for a little while please, I promise I'll go home right after this."

With her begging, my cold heart softened, but I still put up an annoyed face and walked in the park. I was just sitting on the benches looking like I wanted to leave. She went to the big oak tree and she was looking for something. I knew she was looking for what we wrote on that tree with a silver ink pen half a year ago. If I remember it right, it said, "Chris and Susan was here, Chris had tea and Susan was drinking hot chocolate. Hope Chris and Susan would always remember this day, always loving each other, forever." She was looking around for quite a while, then she came back slowly with tears on her face.

She said, "Chris, I can't find it, it's not there anymore."

I felt so sour inside, there was a stream of pain, flowing into my heart, the kind of pain I've never felt before. But all I could do was pretend I didn't care, and said, "Can we go now?"

I opened up my big black umbrella, she was just standing there, didn't want to leave yet, hoping there was still a chance. She said, "You made up the story of you and that other girl didn't you? I know I frustrate you sometimes, but I'll change, can't we start over?"

I didn't say a word, just looked down and shook my head. After that we just kept on walking towards the train station, didn't say a word to each other.

Four years ago, the doctor said I had cancer, but it was found early, so it was still curable. Thinking that it was okay, I started living my normal life again, and even forgot about the cancer. I didn't think about the cancer again and did not go back to the doctor. Until a month ago, my stomach was hurting for two weeks straight, and the nightmare awakened me again.
First I thought the pain wouldl go away, but it grew stronger until to the point that I couldn't take it anymore. I went back to the doctor and took an X-ray. The picture came out and there was a big black spot, which proved the truth that I did not want to believe. I was at the most glittering part of my life, but it was coming to an end. I wanted myself and the people around me to go through the least pain possible, so I decided to commit suicide.

But I couldn't let people find out about my intentions, especially Susan, the person I love the most in this whole world, who still doesn't know about the truth. Susan was still young, she shouldn't have to go through this. So I made up some stories and lied to her. It was a cruel thing to do, and it broke her heart, but it was the fastest way to wipe out three years's feelings. I didn't have much time, because I would soon start to loose hair and she would find out eventually. But now I'm close to succeeding, this drama would soon be over. Thirty minutes more this would all come to an end, that was what I had in mind.

The train had stopped running so I called a taxi for her. We were just standing there, waiting, loosing our last moments in silence.

I saw the taxi from far away, I held my tears and said to her, "Take care of yourself, take good care of yourself."

She didn't talk, just nodded lightly, and then opened up her misshaped umbrella and stepped out on the street. Out in the rain, we became two single life forms, one red, one black, so far away from each other. I opened the door for her and she got in, then I close the gate that would separate me from her forever. I stood by the car, staring in the dark window, at the first love in my life, also the last one, walking out of my life. The car started, driving into the street. Finally I couldn't hold my sorrow and the twist in my heart any longer, waving my arms rapidly chasing after the taxi, because I knew, this would be the last time I see her.

I wanted to tell her I still love her, I wanted to tell her to stay, I wanted to tell her so much, but the taxi had already turned in the corner. Warm tears kept falling down my face, blended with the cold rain drops. I was cold, not because of the rain. I was cold inside.

She left, and I didn't get anymore of her phone calls even until today. I know she didn't see my tears, because they were washed away by the rain. I left without regrets. But I'm not Chris, I'm that girl Susan, using my memory, and his diary I found after one year since he left, writing down these last words.

Your destiny is in your hands

Your destiny is in your hands . If you don't act now, you might lose your chance of knowing how it feels like to really love someone and express it without any fear. In many instances, we too, become like prisoners of our own fears. Let us not be insensitive to the signals others are sending us. They are vivid signs of what could lie ahead and forewarn us of danger or give us a glimpse of hope that we are on the right tracks of our lives. Let us try to listen to what they don't say for sometimes there is more meaning to what they keep inside than what comes out of their lips. Let us not be afraid to face our own fears for they will be lifetime crutches that will keep us from walking straight. Remember that there is no gain without pain. only when we take the chance of getting hurt can we find the road to real happiness and only when we face our fears can we find the way to the only love that will last us a lifetime.

It’s not the quantity but the quality of the time

It’s true that there will always be a child in each and everyone of us. Many of us have been deprived of things we could have enjoyed in childhood because our families were financially constrained and could only provide us with nothing more than our basic needs. When we become self-sufficient with our jobs, we begin to relish the past and reward ourselves with what we have missed, now that we can afford it. I grew up only with a handful of simple plastic toys and I always looked forward to be with my playmates who had Voltes V robots to tinker with. Now, I’d still like that child who would drag his family to the toy store and mouse around. Things could have been a lot easier if I just have myself to think about. But, now that I have my own family, it’s a totally different story.
it’s a cold hard fact that there are a lot of married men who find the time they spend for work and their leisure activities more exciting than the time they spend with their little children. I know of some who would cherish those moments of closeness with their kids but many would rather leave them with their mothers, grandma’s or worst their "yaya’s" most of the time.
Many men think that if they sufficiently provide for the material needs of their children they have already done their job. But they fail to realize that enrolling them in a good school, and buying them nice clothes and toys are just less than half of their responsibility.
Considering the nature of your work, time management will play a crucial role here. A little for work, a little for the hobby, and a little for the family. If he cannot be around in the weekend, then set a different day. It’s not the quantity but the quality of the time we spend with our family that counts. It isn’t easy, I know. But, time will come when we will never be able to hold those small hands again and kiss those tiny fingers. We may never hear the little giggles and cries. We may never have the chance to carry them on our backs anymore. When that time comes, all we could helplessly do is wish for time to turn back so we can hug them and be with them again. Its never too late, your child could be at home waiting for you. Forget about the night out with your friends today, go home and be a parent. He could be right there sitting beside you. Hug him and tell him how much you love him. Remember, there is always an opportunity to be close to our children. It wouldnt cost us hours for all they need is a few minutes of our time... given unselfishly with love and sincerity.