Every Sunday morning at the breakfast table, my wife would play favorite tunes in our old component, saying she loves the music. Not only do we enjoy our meal more but also we get a glimpse of the world when we were young.
Old tunes like The Nearness of You and My Way and other music of yesteryears, have brightened even our dreary Sundays. After breakfast we usually go to mass at the Albay Cathedral in Old Albay or San Rafael Church in downtown Legaspi City.
Our two boys, Edgar and Herbert, have their own families and no linger live with us. Edgar, a licensed ship captain, is out of the country most of the time and Herbert, an architect lives with his architect-wife in the Middle East.
It is Vincent, our 6-year old grandson who stays with us some days a week from Friday to Monday, who brings us sunshine. He is in Grade I at San Rafael Academy in Legaspi City.
Once in a while, his 2-year old brother, Rinzo, drops by with his mother, our daughter-in-law, filling our house with laughter and little footsteps, bringing back memories of our two sons when they were small boys.
Without Vincent and Rinzo visiting us on weekends, silence and sometimes the creaking of doors and windows when the winds pass by would be our constant companions.
A sage once said a house is like an accordion. When the children are with the parents, the accordion is open. When the children leave, the accordion is closed, the music, and the voices gone.
You won’t hear your children’s laughter. Some parents who can not bear the separation invite the children to live with them, creating extended families.
After our youngest son, Herbert left for abroad years ago I said to my wife we could be on a second honeymoon. But she brushed the idea aside, saying I was too old for the foolish adventure.
Until now, she is determined to have her idea of another honeymoon without the usual romantic color. I agreed and keep my peace. When the nights grow cold, the wall between us crumbles.
But when you grow a little older, what you will need more is your spouse’s company, the assurance that she is around, that you can reach her anytime you long for her comfort.
This is one reason why a man who has lost his spouse to death takes another not because he is excited by the prospect of another love but because he can not go through life alone.
A woman can lengthen a man’s life. The story of an 80-year old widower in Caramoan, Camarines Sur who married a 40-year old woman is an example. The man lived for 40 more years.
The story was related to me by a relative from the same town who also wanted to marry after his wife died. But his children objected. He lived for years more but his was an empty life.
There is the story about an old couple who prayed to their gods to keep them together forever. The gods granted the request but changed them into trees growing side by side.
Loneliness is always around. It is up to you to fight away the blues.
