Love As I Know It

My first ever blog entry and I can't think of anything to write. So I'll just recycle an article I wrote for AC Times. How pathetic, but here goes...

By the time this article goes to print, Hearts Day is long over. But love isn’t and will never be. So it is only fitting that I write something about it. Love, after all, is one of the best things in life – Valentine or not Valentine.

Great loves come cheap. Last Christmas, my bestfriend Kristine gave me a lovely Marks and Spencer goodie bag and tucked inside was a Hallmark card. The flap of the card was adorned with a stick-figure portrait of her family – me included. Isn’t that the sweetest thing or what? Now for my wedding (at the moment phantasmagorical) Kristine promised to gift me a Louis Vuitton Vernis Pappilon. Anything LV is always nice to receive but I doubt if it could ever beat that drawing I received for Christmas ‘04. I am officially the cheapest person I know.

Love found in the puniest of details. Birthdays ago, my mommy threw me a wonderful kiddie party. There were chicken lollipops, pink poofy cotton candy and basically every food that would make any child’s mouth water. Most special was the pasta though. Instead of using the "normal" noodles, mother dear used bear-shaped pasta. This simple detail made me realize that my mother thought of me enough to know that boring old string noodles is the last thing that a 9-year old could ever want. This is love in its unadulterated form.

To love in spite of… I have super sensitive skin. Too much sun exposure leaves me with rashes. If I eat anything crustacean, my allergy starts to act up. Bummer. Well one day, hard headed me decided to put an end to my forbidden food cravings by gobbling down an order of succulent prawns. I savored each bite with much gusto even though fully aware of the consequences of eating prawns. Naturally, I developed a really bad case of allergic reactions. So bad it was that I had a hard time breathing. Harder still was to look at myself in the mirror – the rash was scary and I can’t stand it. I prefer my skin flawless not with rashes. I called my dad because I seriously thought that I was going to die and daddy came and held my hand. I guess it’s all just in the mind, but I really did feel much better just by holding my father’s hand.

There are many versions of love. There is the Hollywoodized version that involves double-digit carat engagement rings and private yacht dinners. Then of course, there’s the fairytales that’s big on all things fancy. But love, I realize, is not just about long-stemmed roses and dark chocolates. These are only the trappings of love. For me love is silly stick figure drawings, bear-shaped noodles, and yes, having leprosy-like rashes all over – with someone still willing and able to hold your disgusting creepy hand. Ultimately, it is the non-high-maintenance stuff that truly defines love.