Happily Ever Liuswandi (Aileen x Erwin E-session)

In a fortunate twist of fate, you find what your soul deserves. I grew up believing in a paradox of the ideal metaphysics of relationships and its stigma of heartbreaks and drama. I was hopeful and wary at the same time. I used to indulge myself with the notion of the ideally biased metaphor of love, yet I was dubious for too many times. I was eager to feel what it’s like to love and to be loved, but I was always petrified of having to be included in the circle of miserable teary dopes.

Then he came.

Ironically, I met Erwin when I personally decided to let the hopes fade and eagerly framed my mind on launching my career. I became too focused in blossoming my learning curve and suddenly got swayed –which was unusual of me. This man who has an extremely stoic and impassive face has caught my attention. Knowingly, he’s Indonesian and it did bother me the first time. I was overly skeptic and uncertain. How can two people of different nationality, religion, upbringing, and even values jive in together on a same wave length? Like skew lines that do not intersect nor even parallel to each other, I envisioned us having the difficulty to even meet at the same viewpoint. I was absolutely unsure if a chance is worth a shot. This silly self has tried to cast aside the budding fervor. Surprisingly, he was persistent after being rejected by my fussy alter ego twice.

And so, the music started to play between the two of us.

They say opposites attract. Yes, it sounds like a bit of cheesy romantic novel. Though every cliché automatically provokes suspicion, it stands to reason that a saying this well-established contains a grain of truth. I myself never believed about this and usually laugh it off when people mention something about it. Amusingly, apathetic and loud go hand in hand.

We’re like Yin and Yang. He’s usually calm and reserved. I am more goofy and absurd. He’s often serious and stern. I am frisky and mischievous. He mostly likes simple and plain things. I usually enjoy the bright and the detailed. He’s normally firm and decisive. I am more impulsive and careless. For the most part, he is private and discreet. In contrast, I am open and more social. Yet in the midst of all these, we both cling and brew together.

And here we are, after almost four years of being together, we have proven that no great love story ever has a perfect plot. We typically have conflicting judgment and sentiment. Like normal couples, we do fight a lot. We have our own stance and conviction and sometimes discordantly oppose each other. Figuratively like magnets, I am purely the antithesis of him vis a vis, yet we significantly cling and long for each other. We yearn for each other’s company. We are both inclined to be always on each other’s side. We gradually became each other’s comfort zone. We deliberately ground ourselves in working through our differences, chipping them away, day after day, growing and learning to be better for each other. Erwin’s grown to understand when and why I get heated and annoyed in the midst of our discussions, and how to contain my fire. I have grown to understand and get a hand on his mood swings and directive advice. He’s grown to accommodate my need for profound and bursting talks by lending his ears and sharing point by point his opinions. And in turn, I have accommodated his delight for different foodstuffs by learning how to cook (Yes, I’m a loser in the kitchen.). We became not only better for each other, but better individuals. The work we put into building our relationship gave us the opportunity to constantly practice selflessness, honesty, self-awareness, and empathy. We learned to hold each other and ourselves accountable, to never take the easy way out, and to live by the standard that we aspired to. The time and effort we invested in each other became the fodder for our even more growing love and commitment to each other.

And as we embark onto the second chapter of our story, we know for certain that our union would not be as pleasant and smooth as most melodramas depict. A happy ending, of course there will be. However, we are not free to live a happily ever after. As they say, matrimony isn’t just throwing glitters and painting the town yellow. It will be a roller coaster for sure. We would definitely hurt each other countless times. To a great degree, largely what matters is the connection that flows between us irrespective of the circumstances. Since any union is not a perfection at all. It is the love that is impeccable, which only grows stronger with each scramble and clash, and therefore reignites with even brighter flame.

And to you, my love.

As I repeatedly tell you, I will always be forever grateful that fate and God have made our paths cross. You are the sweetest. You speak your own opinion and definitely know the right things to say. You have an honest and gentle heart. You sincerely value both your family and mine. You are most sincere to your friends and to people around you. You stand by your beliefs and decisions firmly. You are at most simple and kind.

Thank you because you never stop caring. You care for me, for the things that belong to me, and for the people who are dear to me.

Thank you for spoiling me with things that I don’t usually ask for. You surprise me with gifts and foods that I don’t normally expect just to make me smile or brush off a stressful day. You bring me to places and don’t mind paying all the expenses because all you want is to be with me.

Thank you for making me laugh when I’m dead irritated and furious. You know what words to say to instantly make me smile. You know the things that make me happy.

Thank you for your understanding. You know very well that I am overly childish but you don’t mind at all. You know that I can be excessively hard-headed sometimes but you set your patience longer to adjust to my moods and rants.

Thank you for giving me advice about almost everything. I usually lean on to your honest and straight-forward musings. You make me understand and differentiate the realities of life and how better it could be.

Thank you for always protecting me. You do everything for me not to get hurt. You give me smart proposition for me to cope up with my mess. You always make sure that I returned home safely. You habitually check on my health in general and make sure I am safe from any hurt and harm.

I am extremely overjoyed that our adventure to forever will start soon. I hope for us to stay in love as long as there’s sun in the mornings and as long as the stars shine in the universe. I hope to have more of our madly deeply in love years until our hair turns to gray with old age.

Off to forever! Aku Cinta Kamu!