October 13, 2013: Moments of Joy

I want to share a moment of absolute joy with you: my friend Paty sobbing with joy at my kitchen table while she is held in the arms of someone she thought she would not see for several months, if at all.

 

The background: Paty is a 31 year-old Guatemalan Spanish teacher. After years of disastrous relationships, she fell in love with a US man, her student of 6 weeks, this summer. She got her passport in order to go visit him and get engaged. The US requires Guatemalan citizens to have a tourist visa approved in order to travel legally to the US. Hers was denied, for the reason that, because her reason for traveling was to visit a loved one, "it was unlikely she would return to her home country." The irony is that Marty, her boyfriend, has decided he wants to move here next year to start a life with her. Paty was devastated and terrified that he would decide he could not wait for her.

 

Even before her visa was denied, Marty had been in contact with me to form a goodhearted conspiracy. For several weeks, I had been, under his direction, purchasing flowers in the marketplace to arrange and have delivered to her. He told me to save the roses for last, as they are her favorites.

 

After her visa was denied, he contacted me again, this time to help plan a larger conspiracy. He needed me to have an excuse for Paty to be in my city on the afternoon of October 13th- as he was planning a surprise trip to Guatemala with the intent of proposing to her. The date coincided with the birthday of my closest associate, Ramon, who also happens to be a close family friend of Paty's. I told her I wanted to have a small get-together for him, and would like her to be there. She even agreed to come help me cook and prepare the meal!

 

Marty chose a restaurant close by for the proposal. I cooked all day Saturday. Sunday morning, I went to the flower market and selected 2 dozen red roses, palm leaves, and baby's breath, which I brought back and arranged in a vase at my apartment. Sunday afternoon, I met Marty for the first time in person, ad we took the arrangement together to his chosen restaurant, where the management agreed not only to deliver them, but to actually have them waiting on the table with a candle for when they arrived. They also asked for my number, as they loved my arrangement and wanted to hire me to do arrangements for them!

 

At 3:00, Paty arrived at my apartment to help me prepare the food and set up the party. She had known that Marty was taking a trip, and we had been having some fun on Facebook- I saw her post, asked where he was going, she told me, "he is spending the long weekend in the mountains with some friends." Well, we happen to live in the mountains, so he was not exactly lying to her. I asked her, knowing full well exactly where he was (we had met up only 30 minutes before), "do you know if Marty made it to his destination?" She responded, "Yes, he texted me and let me know he was in." We kept up the small talk, mostly about them and about my work, until the other guests got there.

 

At 4:20, Ramon and his wife and daughter arrived, and I finished heating up the food and serving dinner. At 4:50, just as she was about to take her first bite of dinner, Paty saw Marty walk through the open door of my apartment. She was momentarily stunned into silence, then turned first to me, then to Ramon and his wife, demanding to know, "Did you know about this? Did YOU know about this? Did you KNOW about this?" Then she burst into tears as Marty took her into his arms and hugged her tight. The absolute joy in the room was unmistakable and palpable and life-enhancing.

 

Ramon captured these first few moments on camera, and I am sharing one of the pictures here. They left after about 45 minutes, and eventually made their way to the restaurant balcony overlooking the city square where Marty proposed and Paty accepted.

 

The wedding date is going to be in July, 2014, and they are looking into a location with volcanic saunas and extensive gardens for their reception and services.

 

This is NOT a fairy tale romance. Paty has been kicked out of her house over this. Marty's family is against the union. There will be language and cultural barriers to overcome. There will be logistics nightmares, and Marty's earning potential, like mine, will be cut by 1/3- 2/3 by moving here. He is considerably older. Etc.

 

Yet I can say, being asked to share a moment of joy so powerful and beautiful was, for all of us present, a instance of touching the sacred. The tears were genuine, and I can honestly not remember the last time I saw another human being so happy in all of my life. This was a soul mate reunion, through and through.

 

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Reading this has washed away all the grey shadows in my mind and heart, dear friend. For you, so often in your own shadows, this must have been - in fact, obviously is, the most uplifting experience. Paty and MArty's happiness plays with your description and the end result seems absolutely and magnificently RIGHT, TRUE, WONDERFUL and BEAUTIFUL. Thank you so much for sharing. What an enchanting and amazing picture, what a wonderful truth.

[Marie Anzalone]

You're welcome, Emma, and I am glad I had soemthing so amazingly wonderful to share.

[emmajoy]

oh dear, searching for the tissues having read your 'real life story' again ..

[Corset]

Real love conquers all, what a beautiful story, thank you for sharing this Marie.

[Marie Anzalone]

may not conquer, but certainly gives us hope for the conquest. :-)

thanks, Corset.

[Horizon K.]

Beautiful. Finding a true love and being united this way is profound. I'm sure it was an absolute joy to be a part of making this day happen for them. Good luck to them both, a lot of boundaries to overcome, but without tests, you will never know the strength of love. Thanks for sharing Marie.
Horizon

[Marie Anzalone]

it really was special and amazing to be a part of this, Horizon. Thank you.

[Ken Simm.]

All the more overwhelming because of the trueness of it all.

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you, Ken. It certainly ranks as one of the most beauitful moments of the past year, one of the most powerful of my life.