I have learnt that life is an amazing, never-ending series of surprises.

 I’ve had a childhood full of surprises - living without my parents for a while, having and losing a baby brother at 16 and the endless confusion of growing up. In my teens I was shy kid who needed braces and a lot of self confidence but also someone who wouldn’t be intimidated if pushed in a corner. Love was an emotion I felt strongly about but the few crushes I harbored on some “men” never developed into anything else. So what was love I used to ask myself? A whole lot of genes going haywire, thumping hearts, fast pulses? Geez, I’d never ever feel that way. I was a dreamer, a fighter, a romantic and a loser. I was emotionally troubled yet I had matured inside much before anyone else my age. As a  young woman I was a combination of cynical and hopeful. Cynical cos by now I had realised that love was a commodity that was as rare as it was precious. Hopeful cos I thought if I kept looking I might find that treasure someday. I’d see romantic cards and poems and want to send it to somebody... someone whose face would light up and who would smile when he read it. Each Christmas I’d sing “Merry Christmas Darling” to that one person who had not yet appeared in my life. Why oh why did he take so long to appear? Maybe my name was just not in the list of lovers that God wrote.

And then one day across the seven seas someone wrote back to me. It didn’t begin with the thumping of hearts or erratic pulses - just a warm feeling, like finding a lost friend. And that was Kenny. He moved my heart, touched my soul, made me laugh, sometimes made me cry too. We fought, we smiled, we talked, we dreamt, we waited.. for the time when we could finally see each other. His voice made me want to dance and his letters made me want to sing. Was this the one? Was this the one?And then we met and my heart went crazy. All I could think of was how it would feel to be in his arms. And before we knew it we were married and love took on a new meaning. He still moves my heart, touches my soul, makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry too. Each day I discover him and each day I marvel at the mystery of love. How could I have lived without him all this time? How could I have survived?