When did love begin and when did it die?

When did love begin and when did it die?

Recently a friend of mine told me that he was definitely ending his 42-year marriage and would marry his 20-year- old secretary whom he had hired merely 6 months prior. He further added that he was so much in love that he had an urge to get on top of a building and shout it out. He then proceeded to show me the photo of his prospective Hispanic bride on his smart phone, I felt sorry for him because she was stunningly beautiful and sexy. I also felt in my bones that my friend was heading for some old-fashioned colossal heartache. There is no more pathetic fool than an old fool. He is a successful CPA with two offices. And now he is falling for an oldest game in human history. He has his hair dyed and is going through a weight reduction program while convincing himself that the young woman is in love with him.

Not too long ago, I was also convinced that a certain woman was in love with me. She pushed the right buttons and said the right things. I was lonely then. I just went through a painful divorce, my fifth in fifteen years and I was living south of the border in order to escape the pain and to immerse myself in a language-acquisition experiment. I met a Mexican graduate student in anthropology through a mutual friend. We hit it off right away. Soon she moved in with me. I provided her with free room and board. We had fantastic sex together and I thought she loved me simply she said so. Then I caught her lying to me on several occasions. I began to put my thinking cap on and looked at her with my eyes wide open. What started my dissociation with her was a musical instrument: a keyboard. She was taking lessons in learning how to play the keyboard. One day she bought a larger keyboard and said she would give me the old one so I would have something to work on my musical aspirations. Unfortunately, she didn't keep her word. Her excuse was that I would have no time to learn to play any musical instrument as I would be too busy with my fledging business while her nephew would surely make better use of the instrument. I just smiled when she explained to me the reason for her change of heart. Then a few months later, I had some pain in my left foot, which necessitated the aid of a walking cane. Strange as it may sound, it so happened that she had a walking cane she had bought about five years before she met me, after some pain developed in her knees. The pain disappeared after medication and she was not using the cane when she moved in with me. When I asked her if I could borrow the cane to see if it would alleviate the discomfort in my left foot. She firmly answered me in the negative and told me that I would easily afford a cane, considering my financial situation. Once again, my reaction was mild. I smiled and said nothing. I then immediately drove to a Walgreens and shelled out $46 for a cheapo cane. By then, I was fed up with her selfishness. Two months after the cane incident, my business crashed, thus giving me an opportunity to move back to the States. One morning over breakfast I told her a moving van was coming shortly and she needed to vacate her belongings within two hours. Stunned, she asked me why. I told her I had to move back to the States in a hurry and I would contact her later on. Of course, I didn't. And I rarely thought of her until my CPA friend showed me the photo of his young girl-friend because my friend's belle bore a striking resemblance to my old flame except for the hair style.

The reason I am spilling my guts out today was that this morning she somehow tracked me down and dished out some insults over the phone. Among her choice words were "stupid, crazy old fool". To be honest, I was quite glad she employed such epithets. They would vastly help me in the future should I foolishly fancy some sexy, young female would madly fall for me because of my charms and looks despite the huge age disparity. 

I have to stop this confession because my cell phone just rang and my latest female friend, a 19-year-old sophore whose major is Psychology, is on the phone. 

Roberto Ngo

May 21st, 2011