Coming up next is the fourteenth part to Diane Richardson’s “When I Met My Hubby.” But first, relationships.
Now that Diane and Joe are in a stable relationship, I wanted to share another story of a couple being content to spend time with each other. José's story isn't quite as calm as Diane's, but it follows the theme of making the most of every part of a relationship:
José Dominguez
02.15.2022
Olvidos
“How do you dare to give lessons and speak in front of so many people if you forget everything and hardly know the day you are living?” Maria asked me when I was working as a schoolteacher in Mexico. Later, after we married, she confessed to me that when I was working as a lawyer, she was terrified about my memory lapses and usually she recommended my security to all saints since my omissions could be a danger to my life. But I guess I was not completely lost. Perhaps I just had some misfortunate failures or if you want to put it another way, they were only confusions of priorities that conducted me to the wrong way. I just want to tell you a few events that I keep in memory because I already forgot the rest … I guess that is called selective amnesia or intentional premature small trials of Alzheimer's. It happened before my marriage to Maria; when I started dating and interacting with ladies. I’m speaking about my beginner’s stage when my naiveness was mixed with my stupidity in an insoluble bond. A certain, night I invited a young lady to mutually amuse ourselves and when we were in the preliminary manifestations in a burst of intimacy I said, “It’s wonderful to meet you Elena.” As soon as I finished my sentence I received a hit in my left chin and resulted in being expelled far away from her, falling to the ground like a broken pinata and the lady continue screaming, “I’m not Elena. So idiotic if you don’t control your partners' names, better not to say nothing, stupid moron” and left me with a lesson of life free of charge.
My second significant memory break to remember was the first Maria’s birthday that I happened to witness. She told me the exact date but I, in an overconfident movement, decided not to take note. I don’t remember what day I selected as her birthday and bought something that I found meaningful to our relationship that by the way was super ok. The night of the present delivery I nocked Maria’s house door and her mother invited her to come in, the family was reunited as usual and Maria asked “What do you have in your hands” and I responded, “It’s a present for you, happy birthday” at the same time that I handed it to her. Everybody laughed and was astonished so I questioned what did I say that was so funny and Maria answered, “My birthday is not today but I appreciate your intention. The day does not matter.” Later Maria told me in a laughing mode that her mother, who by the way was a very strong and wise woman, advised her “Maria, it’s better to take with a sense of humor Pepe’s memory interruptions if you want a peaceful life with him.” And she was right. Her exact birthday day did not matter. Nevertheless I found the way not to be so foolishly omissive for the rest of my life.
Another case happened when being married we were invited to a wedding at the Ciudad Juarez Country Club. It was a high-level party and I asked Maria’s sister and husband to join us. The day of the party we were very elegantly dressed, it was the priority of the day so everything was suspended to allow us to attend to such event. I drove my car with the four of us but something strange happened. The country club was closed, the lights shut and a sign saying closed on Mondays, so I realized that our date was for Tuesday and I didn’t know what to do…. The only human response that broke the mortal silence inside the car was Irene’s husband who laughed so loudly that alleviated the troubled situation. “I’m so sorry,” I articulated with a guilty voice but Maria didn’t say anything. There was a painful silence and I was waiting for a terrible and justified burst from my almost always efficient marriage partner. After we arrived home, she expressed to me, “My mother warned me about something like this…so, I cannot say I’m surprised and I can’t say I didn’t know about your predisposition to mess dates, amounts, names, etc. Thus let’s continue living as usual.” Of course, I didn’t take advantage of the situation. Nevertheless in a very natural way things evolved as prognosticated. Maria was explosive but at the same time an intelligent person. She knew I was not going to be born again with complete memory capacity and she was not going to worsen the incident with her recriminations…so, we lived a happy and imperfect marriage life as the majority of the couples do.
Diane Richardson06.28.2022When I Met My Hubby Part 14So, I am now happy Joe is no longer one of Philadelphia’s most eligible bachelors. We continue to enjoy each other’s company. He works six days a week. On most days I would take him dinner as he worked evening and night shifts. I would take him dinner after I got off work. Most of the times I would wait in his office until he got off. And we would go back to my place, and he would take me to work in the morning. At that time, I was working at the Family Court at 34 S. 11th Street doing paternity tests.
Our romance is going on for about two years now. We rarely went out as he was only off one day of the week and I was perfectly fine with that. I would love to watch him sleep. Pearlie Mae would sometimes invite us to her church functions, and we would attend and enjoy the services. After the service there would be a nice luncheon or dinner. People would often ask me “How can you be in a relationship and never go anywhere?” I would reply, “I don’t need to go to the bars or clubs to enjoy myself. I enjoy myself just fine being alone with him. He’s off one day a week and I look forward to enjoying him all to myself.”
To Be Continued…….
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And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.
Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month!
Curated by Caitlin Cieri