44 Years Ago

It has been a long time. So long that he has to think hard to remember the details. He was in 10th grade at the time. It was Valentine’s day and this girl he had known for a while had asked him out. He had reluctantly agreed. The date had been ok. They had spoken on the phone a few times after that, but two weeks later, they had agreed that it was not going to work out.

They had lost touch and he had almost forgotten about her. Till he received a card on his birthday several months later. She said she had fallen in love with him. He did not understand. He called her up. He thought they had mutually agreed to not see each other. She replied that he had suggested it, and she did not have the courage to say otherwise. She had loved him for years, and had mustered up the courage that she did not know she had and had asked him out. Only for him to suggest that it would not work out. She had been crushed.

He was just 16. He did not like her, but the idea that someone loved him fascinated him. They agreed to start seeing each other again. He discovered that she was nice. He thought he remembered a lot of things about her. But all he could recall was that she was nice. And she loved him too much. He knew this and used this to always get her to agree with him. On everything.

Over time, he began to develop a liking for her. It was difficult to not to. She soon became his best friend. They spent hours talking on the phone with each other. There were times when they did not have anything more to talk about, and yet he wanted to stay on the phone with her.

She once asked him if he would always be with her. He had replied yes. He had fallen in love with her. He could not imagine finding someone who would love him more than she did. Time flew by, and soon it was time to go to college.

He was going far away to a different country. They would not see each other very often. They had taken vows to remain in touch and marry someday. It was obvious that it would be more difficult for her than it would be for him. It always is more difficult for the one who stays behind.

Few months later, she loved him even more. And he stopped loving her. He was surrounded by his new friends and was living a new life. He had loved her when she had been around. But now that she wasn’t, he did not miss her.

When he told her of this, she was devastated. She had always loved him more than he loved her. He felt for her, but he needed to be honest with her. He decided that it had just been puppy love.

His life went on. He dated different women, but he did not want to spend the rest of his life with any of them. This continued after college. His friends would set him up, and after a few months, he would find something lacking. His friends started getting married, and soon he was the only single one. He could never find someone who loved him as much as she did.

At 60, life had passed him by. He had been very successful in life, but the happiness that true love brings had always evaded him. Walking in the park on V-day’s eve, a young couple walking arm-in-arm had reminded him of that day when she had asked him out 44 years ago. If only she would do it again….