They say that ,"Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed, and very dear."
That is what Amrith is for me. He walks into my life 17 years ago and never once did he not live up to that promise.
The first time he called me was in reply to a matrimonial advert I had put up for Sapna on some matrimonial site. He was softspoken, polite and also has this extra humbleness about him that would sweep anyone of their feet. He took the details required, horoscope etc and said he would get back. Very diligently after a day or 2, he called back and expressed regret that the horoscopes didn’t match and hence we couldn’t proceed further. He wished her luck and all the best in her search etc. I appreciated his call because many people don’t bother to reply or get back often. And that was the beginning of our calls and a beautiful friendship.
He would call casually and check whether I reached after office. We would talk about Calicut (which was always his favourite place), people in Calicut, his folks, friends, bike riding time stories etc. I was going through a difficult marriage at that time and he to me was the right example of how a real man should be with a woman. He barged into my small world once for my Bday (Sapna jus hated it π) and ever since has always been a part of my birthdays π . A year later, when both of them asked me what my opinion was on whether they should get married, since now all of a sudden the horoscopes matched π , I was the happiest person π. I told both the same thing, you are poles apart, but you won’t find a better person than each other for yourselves. I knew he would the best husband or father or friend that anyone could ever wish for and again Sapna I knew her well and was sure that this guy would go all out for her any day.
The first time I met him, he came in a ragged jeans and a worn out white T shirt , half shaven and slightly grey haired. I told him Sapna would have a culture shock if she saw you like this since she is always so prim and proper when it comes to dressing. He told me, it will be easier to change Sapna than him π and that’s exactly what he did. He was always comfortable in his worn-out T shirts and jeans. Any T-shirt which you gave him as a gift would be worn out till Sapna whisked it away to be used as ragged clothπ
I always like people who write well and its very rare I come across men who wrote so well – both literally over emails etc and on paper. He used to write in that neat Caps letters always. I always told him his Ooty school teachers would be proud of his English π His English used to range from Victorian to Oxford styles.
Talking about language skills, his Malayalam is just terrible , it will bring tears to any one’s eyes who love the language. Colloquially, he has the typical Calicut accent which kind of runs across in their family back home. His language is the most unpolished and brash when it came to Malayalam. I have never heard someone so lovingly use Malayalam swear words that the person listening would even take it as a compliment. I always used to say it’s the Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde when it came to him using the English & Malayalam π I once did the mistake of installing the Manglish font on his mobile and all our friends never forgave me for the act. Such atrocious Malayalam he would write on Whatsapp msgs to us. MT would commit suicide if he saw Amrith’s attempt on Valluvanad Malayalam typing. Even now, while Im typing and if I posted this , I can hear him saying ,”Thaangal katha ezhuthukayaano? Ningal Madhavikutty kalikkaano ?”( Are you writing a story? Are you trying to be Madhavikutty?)
Have never seen someone who loves to drive so much, be it morn, afternoon or night, you call him for a drive, there he would be below your building in his car, ready to take off. There are times he has taken us to Jebel Jais on a hot summer afternoon, or the desert campfires at night or the long drives to Hatta / UAQ and not to forget his favourite place , the beach. The man is all about the sand and the water always.
His love for Calicut is incredible. I called him the address book of Calicut. He literally knew everyone we would talk about. He knew all my friends from college through either their brothers or dads or family. He would have a story for everyone. Anyone we mentioned, he would say, aren’t they from XYZ family, they used to live there… they had a brother ABC etc etc. and the story continues… Once when a Calicut friend of mine came visiting and I mentioned his name, she said everyone in Kuttichira knows Ampu π Sapna and me always used to pull his leg saying this.
Though jokingly, I always used to say that I am the freebie that came along with his dowry π, and he never liked it. I was like that pattikutty ( puppy) in Boban & Molly comics, was there in every frame of the story. He made sure of that always. There was never any questions asked , he and Sapna would just come below my building and say, “come, let’s go, we are not going without you”. Many a time I used to tell Sapna, if it weren’t for him and how he made sure that I was part of the family always, I may have never stuck on in Dubai for this long.
His favourite pastime otherwise was bugging me, irritating me and picking up fights with me π He had this amazing tendency to refute and disagree with anything I saidπ He was extremely possessive about his friendship and didn’t like it much if I gave more time to any other friends… So, he would make sure that he keeps you occupied across the day with his calls and messages so that you wouldn’t find the need to contact anyone else or have the time tooπ. He would dig out old stories from Amma about me and use that to irritate me. Just like he had names for everyone , he had names for me too. He would address me as Ms. Menon because he knew I hated the tail. Teddy Bunn & Bunny Boon always seemed to be from some cartoon for me …. However anyone in round shape is always a Bunny for him. Everyone was Molev ( little gal) and Mone ( little boy) for him.
He calls me minimum 5-6 times a day, checking if I reached office, whether I had lunch, whether I fought with my boss, whether I reached home etc. Though secretly I always used to enjoy the affection he showered on me, many a time I would brush it away just to irritate him. He was always a Mr. Know All and a Mr. I am Always right ; though I refused to admit it , it was quite true as well. There are so many times he would warn me against people and I paid a deaf ear, but in the end he would always be right π He would be bugged if we ignore calls or msgs and sometimes I used to do it just to irritate him π There are times when he has told me , “Nhan illaande aavumbol nee padikkum “ ( meaning you will learn when I am not there). And that exactly what I am going through for the last 14 days.
Everyday morning on my way to work, the last 3 days , I pick up my phone to dial him, since that’s a routine for the last 16 years wherever we are . I look out for a message asking did you eat , did you reach back, and if its late night, Don’t forget to message once you are back. And yes I surely miss that and I think I will for the rest of my life. He loved the rains and to splash water driving through it and today it was raining here while I was driving to work and I picked my phone again to call him and show him the rains… I miss his voice when he answers the phone , “Aaa Maa, para..” (meaning Yes dear, tell me ..) But then, I can always hear and feel him around us , more like signs that he is always around us , taunting us, guiding us and of course always warning us to be careful . But Yes, I miss you …more than I can convey in words…
His friendships were always special – Ajay, Madan, Sanjay, Sameer, Sandeep and many more names I can think off…. So many old funny stories we got to hear every time he speaks about them with his eyes twinkling. For the others he was the Big Bro, always there around. They say friends are the family we choose. Being chosen by him was one of my biggest privileges. Certain relationships cannot be defined in words or by blood relationships. He played so many roles in my life across the different years but every role had the same foundation of love, care and kindness. The Doctor told us He has a big heart (literally) and we told him “Absolutely, no doubts on that. We have always known that ! "
As Sapna says, he is always around us taking care of us . That’s why even today, many a time I cannot even write about him in past tense. He will always be in our present. My friend lived a wonderfully joyful life, lighting up everyone around him, so rather than lament his absence, we will celebrate his life . As they say “Warmth is found through fond memories, so curl up with them whenever you need to."
Thank you my friend for being there for me always & Thank you for being a wonderful part of our lives….. We miss you a lot, but I believe you are in a better place now π I am sure you would be cracking jokes with new friends there…
“Saying farewell isn’t something we do. Instead, I’ll remark that I’m looking forward to seeing my friend again every time I hear a phrase, hear a joke, or see an article of clothing that reminds me of them. These are the things that will bind us together even after we die.” - Anonymous
“He Said He Was
Sorry … “
I happened to see the Telugu movie “Ammu” yesterday. The moviemakers
have done a good attempt at creating an awareness of the concept. The actors
have done a commendable job since many scenes leaves us in chills. Though I
feel, that the director could have dealt with the topic with more perspective
and maturity, especially when it came to how they dealt the situation or the
climax, overall, I feel the movie did a decent job in conveying the concept. It
leaves you behind with a haunting premise.
This post is not intended as a movie review. However, the movie left me
behind a lot of thoughts and feelings, which I felt the need to pen. How many
of us understand domestic abuse, how many of us acknowledge it, how many of us
work to get out of it and how many of us accept it? Why is it still taboo to
talk of domestic abuse and do we recognize it?
To understand the same, Google helped me find one of the most apt definitions for the same: Domestic violence, also called intimate partner violence, occurs between people in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence can take many forms, including emotional, sexual, psychological and verbal— intended to intimidate, humiliate, denigrate and control. This definition kind of sums it up. It can be sexual, when people take their partners without consent; frequently emotional where it involves isolating the partner from his/her family, friends and colleagues, monitoring his/her activities and threatening to harm family and friends or take custody of the children etc. Yes, it happens between intimate partners, not necessarily husband and wife alone. I would also add 2 distinct sides to the abuse:
The topic is something I
feel strongly about and that’s what made me write this because luckily / unluckily,
I have had the chance to experience both these sides and with a decent share of
the emotional, sexual, physiological and verbal shades of it; and again, more
than once. Nope, this is not a history on my story, but rather a take on how we
react to it, how our loved ones react to it and of course the Society. We still
base everything on what’s acceptable and not acceptable to the society, isn’t
it?
The first time my ex
slapped me across the face, I went into shock. A reaction from a silent /
submissive guy during a casual conversation left my head spinning. I just
couldn’t hear the million apologies he was giving me for the action, because
inside my head the only noise was “How dare he do that”? As the shock set in,
it transformed into anger within me, asking me 100 times why I should put up
with it, why I can’t just walk away? After a day, this changed into shame: “How
can I tell anyone? What will they think of him?” I called up my uncle and told
him in 1 line that my hubby had slapped me and I was not going home. His
immediate reaction was that “Don’t worry, we will sort it out. I will come and
speak to him. You please go home.” And then he asked me, “Did you say anything
for him to react like this?” I said No, I didn’t, it was just a normal
conversation where we didn’t agree on some small general topic. But then as an aftermath,
I thought, what if I had something, does that give him a right to slap me? With the same feeling of shame, I told my
best friend the next day what happened and her reaction was totally different.
She was so angry that she called my hubby over to meet and between themselves I
still don’t know what they talked, because all that he told me later was that
she had given him a warning that if it happened one more time, she would
complain to the Police etc. It did leave him in fear for a few months. My Uncle
did manage to come over to speak to us after a couple of days since he thought
we will manage between ourselves to sort the ISSUE. He too gave him some advice
and said this should never happen again and that both our families are looking
forward that we have a good life etc. He told me to FORGET the incident and
consider it as a MISTAKE. That moment I knew Life was never going to be the
same again.
The slap never happened
again, but it graduated to a broken arm once, post graduated to sexual abuse
etc. But I never told anyone anything. By then I had resigned myself to fate
and convinced myself that this was what my family wanted. A couple of times, I
did try to raise the issue at our homes.
The common statements that always comes up: “I’m sure you must have
said/ did something to irritate him/her. All families go through all this. Look
at your parents, you think we didn’t have tough times, we also went through
some turbulence. Look at his dad, he was also the same once upon a time, but he
has changed now, right? Spend more time with each other. Just try to understand
more of what he likes and doesn’t like. All will be well once you have a kid!”
I read somewhere an
account of a person where she said “We become ghosts of who we are “. That’s so
true. I couldn’t recognize myself; I had become a Ghost π
Your partner
apologizes and says the hurtful behaviour won't happen again — but you fear it
will. At times you wonder whether you're imagining the abuse, yet the emotional
or physical pain you feel is real. One day it got too far, that I asked myself Is this
what I want? And the answer was so startlingly evident right in my face and
heart, that I don’t want to live with it. I walked out of it, it was my life, I
needed to live it without fear! WALK OUT
from Domestic Abuse! It’s not worth it! If you cannot live with self-respect,
what good is that life to you?
While the first
experience left me with scars, it didn’t pain me anymore since ours had been
more of a marriage of convenience than of love. Then comes along someone who is
just the opposite of all your experiences. The man who sweeps you off the floor
with his love and care. His sensitivity and love are so over encompassing that
you forget the world. π When you are so madly
in love, you forget to notice the small signs that life throws at you. You fail
to notice that he wants your life to revolve around him only. You need to keep
assuring everyday that I will do my best to keep the relationship going. The
lovingly forced confession to my undying love many times a day. You fail to
notice that you are the only person in his world and other relationships don’t
matter (be it good friends / family etc.) You don’t heed to the occasional
emotional outbursts for small matters because when weighed against the happiness,
this is minimal.
People often hide
their true natures maybe not knowingly but it cannot be suppressed for long.
The first time I was accused of something in a fleeting convesration, I brushed
it away thinking it was a joke. I never realized that it was serious until the
same was repeated verbatim again. Ouch! That hurt, are you serious, I asked?
And then it began – a long string of questions, accusations on infidelity,
friendships / relationships, family relationships everything including my
morality was questioned. The words used was way beyond my accepted vocabulary.
To add to it,
technology nowadays is so advanced and free that it can be used for the good or
the bad. How do you react when you realize that all your electronic devices
like phones/ laptop etc. has been cloned? How would you react that your house
was bugged without your knowledge so that your partner could keep an eye on
you?
The first reaction
once again was Shock! How could someone
you love so much or someone who loved you so much say all this or do all this?
The feeling of the earth below you ripping into 2 pieces is beyond shock. Then
comes the Anger stage, where you feel angry at being violated, where you know
and accept that you haven’t knowingly wronged anyone. How dare you do this to
me, was the question? The answer was
always the same , everything was just because the person loved me and couldn’t
bear the thought of losing me to anyone.
The next stage this
time was submission/ self-doubt. When you love someone so blindly, you wish to
give them a second chance. You question yourself, maybe there was something
lacking in you, can you make changes so that your partner will be happy? The
million apologies, tears and promises make us believe that things will change.
But trust me it never changes. The person does it again. The verbal abuse
continues every day. Words we never would dare to repeat would be used. They
have no qualms about what they did. They become the VICTIM because you were
WRONG. You try to seek professional help, which again is expensive for common people.
We don’t have an issue is what we convince ourselves. Lastly comes the
acceptance where we mutually accept that this is not going to work out any
more.
The point is not my
story, but the patterns to it. The different shades to it. Be it physical or
verbal or sexual, abuse is abuse. That’s what we and the society have to realize
and accept. And again, its not only
about women, I know couple of men too who are subject to the same shades of
domestic violence. Unfortunately, the ratio of domestic violence against women
are more compared to men, so often it is generalized.
Family and Society need to be more compassionate as well. The
movie beautifully talks about how women are conditioned
to domestic abuse across generations and most have even accepted it as a way of
life. The mother quotes the examples of her father and defends it by saying men
have no other means to take out their anger and stress. The conditioning we often go through in the Indian
society that we bear the brunt of shaming a family's name and legacy, where we
are hung up on the idea that marriage is the ultimate destination. Also, where
women coming from the poorer section of the society are compelled to believe
that getting thrashed by the husband is the norm. These are all norms and
conditions we have built around. Movies like Ammu or Thappad are all complying
to the same conditioning.
I don’t advocate
that everyone woman or man should walk out of their relationship at the first
instance, that’s not what I meant. But what can we do when we realise or see
that there is domestic abuse be it within the family or outside in your
society.
· Reach
out to someone, don’t hide it.
· Raise
an alert so that the person knows that a third party knows.
· Do
not judge the person. There is so much of self-doubt already going on.
· Advise
to go for professional help rather than family advise.
· Make
professional help economical for people to avail.
· Don’t
sympathise with the Victim, be their strength.
Sometimes, all that
it requires is for someone to be there for you, to reach out to. I am happy
that the Society is slowly changing for the better. Exposure through movies,
social media etc is quite rampant these days that people are finding alternate
sources to create the awareness. At least for the future generation, I am sure
that we can leave them better aware of how to deal with it.
I don’t know what
triggered me to write about this, it must be the movies, but more than that the
fear, the despair, the shame, the anger was all so relatable. All the
characters in my story now are happily settled in various parts of the world
and we have found our peace with each other and have moved on with our lives.
We have accepted our learnings and moved on our journey for better tomorrows.
“You are not the
Darkness you endured. You are the Light that refused to surrender.” John M Green
To Love or Not to Love
This post today is not
because it’s a Valentine’s Day Special, however, it is the upshot of 3 casual
conversations I happened to have yesterday and today. Ironically it happened to
be Valentine’s Day - the Day of Love, to discuss on what love meant to these
people.
I have this close friend
of mine, R.R and the camaraderie we share is our mutual love for Rumi poetry
and the zest for life. Her WhatsApp Status messages often exalt on Lost Love or
the Other side of Love, Heartbreaks and even Higher order Love, which often
makes me nudge the die-hard Romantic soul she is. Last night while wasting my
time on trying to understand the Philosophy or Life and Love (never the twain
shall meet, as Rudyard Kipling says), I notice her status message on how to be
careful in love, not to get your heart broken etc. I know that she has her own
share of troubles in her marriage, a drinking husband, lovely children,
struggling to find a job etc., so we always ensure to be a sounding board
whenever the other needs. The transcript below with a few changes:
Me: Hey Babes, be it the heart or the
soul, that gets hurt, ultimately kills the LOVE in you.
S.R: I suppose it’s the ones around you
that does the due
Me: To love or to not love... That is the
question... Courtesy Shakespeare π to be or not to
be.
S.R: To Love, love and only loveπͺπ»πͺπ»πͺπ»πͺπ»...one of the best
things you could probably do in life and to yourself.
Me: As someone said... It’s better to have
loved and lost than not to have loved forever.
S.R: Couldn't agree more π
Me:
guess Rumi love is only in books, it’s that eternal Utopian place where u will
never reach.
S.R:
That's true, I think that's how all or most of us are conditioned... either of
the genders blame each other for not sticking onto each other in love. The
thing is most of us confuse infatuation for love and end up hating the whole
idea of love once the "partner" moves on.
Me:
Guess ignorance is bliss!
S.R:
Indeed...the more these surreal things start haunting us, the more we are
inclined to feel a sense of loss.
Me:
Why do we get our hearts broken when we are the ones who believe in that love.
And the one who breaks it still flaunts about love.
S.R:
Must be the game plan of that emotion itself... it plays with you in ways you
don't understand and you sheepishly fall for all those subtle nuances, that you
fail to acknowledge the fact that no what the other person has for you is not
necessarily love, but just plain humane consideration or let's say attachment. But somehow, we turn deaf ears and blind eyes to it all... We no longer want to believe that what we "share"
is anything short of love. I still strongly believe that what I tasted earlier
on was love and nothing else. I still cherish every memory I have of him. And
those are probably the only thoughts that keep me going besides my children. At
the end of the day, he is a “paawam” ( In Malayalam , while the literal word translation
means “someone who is poor “, its often used as an adjective for a simpleton or
someone who doesn’t understand the impact of his actions etc. )
Me:
I guess 90% of people follow the same thoughts... They enjoy an initial period
of love or whatever emotions we call it.... Carry it on till the end of our
lives on the memories of those good times unless something drastic happens to
change those good memories.
S.R:
Hmm true... it's just that the sands of time wait for no one to finally be able
to understand what went wrong and why or where... you have just got to move on
in life in the dark, not knowing why you are, where you are.
Me:
Rumi, I reiterate “Ignorance is bliss “. I rest my case. Goodnight for now.
S.R:
Yes, My Rumi, I agree. Ignorance is bliss, but that bliss is my comfort in my
belief of love! Wishing you a better day in love tomorrow.
I
went to sleep with these thoughts.
Today began with social media and WhatsApp messages with Valentine’s
Day messages, Valentine’s Day Dinner options and of course the memes. I have a
college group on Whatsapp wherein today, 99% of us feel good that we are all in
the same boat and that none of us can look forward to the legendary Valentine’s
Day ceremonies as exalted in movies or advertisements. And honestly, none of us actually care for
the Valentine’s Day – we are much above that π (the fox say the grapes are
sour). We have one or two friends in
this group, who actually do get the privilege of celebrating this day with
their husbands and initially they used to post nice pictures of their gifts over
which we all congratulate her and honestly feel happy for her as well. But soon, she realized that she is the odd one
out in the group and all eyes were on her on this day. Call it the peer
pressure or the fear of the evil eye; she soon stopped posting these pics for
her. I hope today is a good day for her though with all my heart. It sometimes
feels good to see people actually in love.
Coming to my second episode,
our domestic help M.K came in today rushing as always to finish her marathon in
1 hour. Hadn’t seen her for over a week since she had some visa issues, so today
when she came I was eagerly waiting for her like Jaya Bachchan with the Aarti
waiting for her son’s homecoming. She is quite a talkative person and while
cutting onions , she said she had to go to another house to help additionally
today since it was their wedding anniversary and they had a party to arrange,
so needed her help. And then all of a sudden the statement:
M.K: Wonder why people get married! And
people like me never learn, I did the mistake twice. And it hurts when people
knowingly hurt you.
Now I do know that she had got married
at the age of 18 and since the husband was an alcoholic and wife beater, she
had left him after 3 years and had 2 kids. She had got married again sometime
back and always used to talk about how caring her husband was, how he used to
care for her kids as his own etc., however never stuck on to a proper job. So I
discounted her statement for maybe a weekend domestic tiff and said:
Me: That’s what we all say. Sometimes,
when we are angry, we just say things we don’t mean.
M.K: No Chechi (which means elder sister
in Malayalam), I got married to him after I told him everything about me, my
life etc. I had told him that I won’t be able to have kids again (due to some
medical issue). And now daily, we are fighting over that.
Me: It’s just that maybe he is trying to
irritate you over something or maybe he is just upset over his job etc. that he
is finding these silly reasons to pick a fight with you. I am not saying it’s
correct, but then maybe that’s all there is to it.
M.K: No chechi, he is serious, he calls
me all these names, that I am really hurt.
Me: Do one thing, if it hurts you that
bad, tell him it hurts you. If he doesn’t understand, then do one thing, you
also speak to him in a manner that hurts him (tit for tat), and that time he
will know.
Then she surprised me.
M.K: If I talk back or say anything he doesn’t
like, he will beat me black and blue.
Me: What??!! How dare he do that? Next
time, he raises his hands tell him that you will complain to the police.
M.K: Chechi, if I were to have
complained to the police on this, by now they would have issued a permanent
residence inside the jail for him. But he is a nice guy Chechi. He takes care
of my kids well.
I was appalled. Does taking care of her
kids give him this right?
Me: M.K, listen to me, next time he
raises his hand on you, say you will call the police.
M.K: Chechi, see this mark on my face;
this was done last week because I told him the same. I told him I shouldn’t have
got married at all and that he doesn’t love me. He hit me saying you don’t care
for the love I show you. (How ironic)
Me: (now I am raging) M.K, no one has
the right to hit you, whether be it with love, without love, whatever. You need
to draw the line if you don’t wish to get hurt.
M.K: Chechi, he is a paawam (again the
same kind of paawam as mentioned earlier), I know he doesn’t mean harm. He does
care for me, I know, maybe he doesn’t know how to show it. He loves my kids and
takes care of them. I actually love him a lot, he is a paawam.
Once again, I rest my case.
As I am still reeling in the effect of
the LOVE on this day, I get a call from my cousin S.M. Now she is on the verge
of divorce since she found out that her husband has an obsessive disorder and is
constantly stalking her, doubting her etc.
Me: How are you doing? What’s happening there?
S.M: Nothing much. Just so bugged with
everything that’s happening. Just now received a message from my hubby saying
with which one of your Valentine’s will you be celebrating today? Should I
still be in queue etc.?
Me: What the hell! Just ignore him! Why
do you need to even reply to him?
S.M: I know, but I can’t help it. I
loved him so much. I really feel sorry for him. He is alone and depressed, can’t
seem to handle this alone.
Me: Oh! Well, can you handle it alone? Does that give him the right to call you names
or insult you? Can’t you see it? He is just emotionally blackmailing you.
S.M: I know, but then he used to care so
much for me, I was his world! His life revolved around me alone. The few months
I have been with him, was bliss!
Me: (with a sigh!) Ignorance is bliss, isn’t
it? You have to get out that world of yours babe… He may have loved you, but
his actions are not normal. Can you live with it your entire life? This is more what I would call Fatal Attraction!
S.M: You are right, I won’t be able to
live with it, and hence we are parting ways. But I don’t know, the love I had
for him, I never had for anyone else. It will never go off from me. Inspite of
all that he has done, I am still thankful for that LOVE. I felt happy and I want
to remember that as LOVE itself. He is after all a paawam yaar. ( paawam once
again ….)
Though, I was at peace that she had
decided to break free from that, I didn’t want to disillusion her from what she
called Love and take away whatever little joy she earned from that Love. I let
it be .
That’s enough of love for me for today. Love at the end of the day, is what we define it to be. For some love is comfort, for some its sacrifice, some its Trust and respect, for some its companionship.... I am not taking any stands here, neither wish to do lest I become disillusioned and I would love to believe that what I have is Love and live in that bliss ! The romantic I am at heart, would still have a tear for an unrequited love story or an ear for the romantic melody. Yes, it’s a Utopian world out there, but aren’t we all in our own worlds? Is it better to have a broken heart than not to realise whether you had one or not!
Their credo is, “Better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all.”
Happy Valentine’s Day!