Mom And Dad

My mom and dad never really had an easy life.

When they met my mom was 17 and my dad was 26. They always said that it was love at first sight, but I think that that's kinda bullshit. My dad was the kind of guy who would always date different chicks every week. My mom was the kind of woman who liked to be responsible, was a straight A student, but at the same time she liked to have fun and go crazy from time to time.

They met in a bar where my dad's friend was working as a waiter and he knew my mom. Classic scenario. Of course my dad was interested in some "fresh meat". The thing is that my mom kinda fell head over heels for him instantly. I guess it's understandable at that age, plus he was a cool cat anyway, and according to what she said and to the photographic evidence - he was pretty hot. They got serious pretty fast but the problem was their parents. None of them approved of their relationship, my mom's mother didn't approve because my dad wasn't rich and didn't go to college and my dad's mother didn't approve because she's just the type of person that doesn't approve of anything if it's not exactly the way she likes it.

They ignored their parents and moved in together in an empty apartment. Literally empty. They slept on the floor for months and would only have one fork and one spoon. My mom said that she was never scared, when I used to ask her how she felt because they were living in such harsh conditions, just so they could be together. She always says that nothing mattered as long as they were together. My mom's parents stopped providing for my mother as soon as they found out that she was disobedient and was living with my dad. My father was working but times were tough so they never had enough money for anything. I asked them if they were happy, at least a little bit, living in those conditions. Their answer was always "yes, we had each other". I always thought that that is such a cliche, that they were swimming in a river of denial, but looking at their relationship and at what they've been trough I guess maybe it's not such a cliche.

They have gone through tough times. Including their relationship. I remember one day, I was 12 or so and the phone was ringing like crazy and my dad would pick up just to hang up the next second, I realized something fishy was going on. So the next time it rang i picked up and a woman was asking for him, she sounded desperate, her voice sounded like she was crying. I told her to fuck off and never call again. When she asked for him she called him by the name my mom was using for him when they'd be cute with each other. I knew right then and there, it was the woman with whom he was cheating on my mom.

Mom and dad had long periods of time when they wouldn't speak with each other. They also used to fight really loud and hard sometimes. I once asked my mom why she doesn't just divorce him if she's unhappy. She said that she can't, she loves him. I never really understood it, until I saw they way they looked at each other at certain times. You could see it in their eyes - it was just what it was supposed to be. They were together, in a real way, in a intense way, in a i will always love you way. And I saw it. And I knew that my mom knows better, because she knows she has a choice.

They had their wedding anniversary on September 4th. 27 years together. And they still hold hands when they walk on the street, and sometimes they stop in the middle of it and kiss.