a treasure beyond all treasures
the old man said .. "there are three treasures in this world: that of gold, that of health, and that of the heart..."
"the most valuable of them all .. is that of the heart."
the old man continued slowly...
"when i married the love of my life, i didn't know that she was ill. her father hid from everyone that she has a grave heart condition, he even hid it from his own daughter for fear that it would worry her. she was only told that she was weak, that's all."
"to our misfortune, my wife's heart collapsed in the first year of our marriage. i was shocked as i learned that my wife was terminally ill. it even angers me when i found out that my father-in-law had hid this fact from me. the doctor said that there is still chance for my wife though. we can get her a valve implant, but the problem is that we didn't have the money."
"miraculously, after two months, the government social service helped with funding for the operation and the valve implant. my wife went through the operation okay, and it was such a moment for me, i almost thought that i was going to lose her, only in our first 3 months of marriage. but still, there are still problems for us, the hospitalization and medical fees took a tremendous toll on our finances. and i was only a young army officer back then, i wasn't earning much. after the operation we had to live on the bare minimum.. you can say that we survived on love alone."
"after a year of marriage, my wife wanted to have a baby. i wasn't sure whether this is possible given her condition. even in that first year we were still very cautious. we were living in the same house but we weren't exactly living as husband and wife. so we went to see a doctor for expert opinion on whether my wife's heart condition may prevent her from having a child. the doctor said that she can, but it'd be painful for her. the problem was that ever since the operation, my wife has been taking pills that'd prevent her blood from clotting, this is to avoid the artificial valve from malfunctioning. and these same pills that have been keeping my wife alive, will be deadly for the baby in her womb. so the alternative would be for my wife to take these chemicals via injection directly to her veins, twice a day."
"out of love, my wife agreed to bearing that pain. and she miraculously gave birth to our first daughter. that was in 1979."
"our 2nd daughter was born 2 years later, in 1981."
"it was a miracle i tell you, and i was overjoyed. the doctors were also happy. this is the first time in the history of singapore medicine that anyone as frail as my wive, gave birth, and mind you, gave birth two 2 beautiful girls"
"did i tell you that she was only 45 lbs when she was in labor ? that's 45lbs, not 45 kgs."
"now, it's been 8 years since my wife passed away. she left me and my 2 girls after 21 beautiful years of marriage."
"she's my true love you see. for if it weren't for love, i don't think we could have survived even the first month of our marriage. i felt cheated back then, i thought i was marrying a healthy woman, only to realize that she had a terminal disease."
"on her death bed my wife told me: .. darling, i've been a burden to you ever since you married me. we've never even gone for a honeymoon in all our times together. for what you've done for me, i am grateful. and i want you to know that i love you. i just hope that our two daughters can take good care of you even after i'm gone... "
... the old main paused ...
"my wife was, is, and will always be that treasure of the heart. for even till now, after she's gone, the thought of her comforts me, and keeps me alive."
... he paused again .. as though wanting to make sure that i'm still listening ...
"and so young man, if you ever find a girl who loves you much, don't ever let her go."
"she's a treasure beyond all treasures."
"the most valuable of them all .. is that of the heart."
the old man continued slowly...
"when i married the love of my life, i didn't know that she was ill. her father hid from everyone that she has a grave heart condition, he even hid it from his own daughter for fear that it would worry her. she was only told that she was weak, that's all."
"to our misfortune, my wife's heart collapsed in the first year of our marriage. i was shocked as i learned that my wife was terminally ill. it even angers me when i found out that my father-in-law had hid this fact from me. the doctor said that there is still chance for my wife though. we can get her a valve implant, but the problem is that we didn't have the money."
"miraculously, after two months, the government social service helped with funding for the operation and the valve implant. my wife went through the operation okay, and it was such a moment for me, i almost thought that i was going to lose her, only in our first 3 months of marriage. but still, there are still problems for us, the hospitalization and medical fees took a tremendous toll on our finances. and i was only a young army officer back then, i wasn't earning much. after the operation we had to live on the bare minimum.. you can say that we survived on love alone."
"after a year of marriage, my wife wanted to have a baby. i wasn't sure whether this is possible given her condition. even in that first year we were still very cautious. we were living in the same house but we weren't exactly living as husband and wife. so we went to see a doctor for expert opinion on whether my wife's heart condition may prevent her from having a child. the doctor said that she can, but it'd be painful for her. the problem was that ever since the operation, my wife has been taking pills that'd prevent her blood from clotting, this is to avoid the artificial valve from malfunctioning. and these same pills that have been keeping my wife alive, will be deadly for the baby in her womb. so the alternative would be for my wife to take these chemicals via injection directly to her veins, twice a day."
"out of love, my wife agreed to bearing that pain. and she miraculously gave birth to our first daughter. that was in 1979."
"our 2nd daughter was born 2 years later, in 1981."
"it was a miracle i tell you, and i was overjoyed. the doctors were also happy. this is the first time in the history of singapore medicine that anyone as frail as my wive, gave birth, and mind you, gave birth two 2 beautiful girls"
"did i tell you that she was only 45 lbs when she was in labor ? that's 45lbs, not 45 kgs."
"now, it's been 8 years since my wife passed away. she left me and my 2 girls after 21 beautiful years of marriage."
"she's my true love you see. for if it weren't for love, i don't think we could have survived even the first month of our marriage. i felt cheated back then, i thought i was marrying a healthy woman, only to realize that she had a terminal disease."
"on her death bed my wife told me: .. darling, i've been a burden to you ever since you married me. we've never even gone for a honeymoon in all our times together. for what you've done for me, i am grateful. and i want you to know that i love you. i just hope that our two daughters can take good care of you even after i'm gone... "
... the old main paused ...
"my wife was, is, and will always be that treasure of the heart. for even till now, after she's gone, the thought of her comforts me, and keeps me alive."
... he paused again .. as though wanting to make sure that i'm still listening ...
"and so young man, if you ever find a girl who loves you much, don't ever let her go."
"she's a treasure beyond all treasures."
posted by JPG at
22:55
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