The love of my life: how we met
I guess for everyone, there will come a time when we meet someone that felt right. And I mean really, really right...almost as if this is the most wonderful person you have ever met and you just wanna spend your entire life with this person. Well, by God's grace (actually, I have been praying for this for years and God just recently said "yes" rather than "wait"), I have met this woman named Shuhui. And to most of you who wants to know how we actually got to where we are today, here's a story from both our perspective. You can choose to believe either version....
Shuhui's version
I was disappointed when I realised that there’s only one guy in my dive class. But then I am there to learn diving, so what the heck. The 1st dive pool lesson was at River Valley swimming pool on 4th Feb 99. I really can’t remember how was the first encounter like. Tommy didn’t strike me as tall (he’s over 6 feet) or what and I had a hard time trying to recall his name. My first impression of him wasn’t fantastic (actually, that’s an understatement). We had dinner at McDonald’s, usually I was the chatterbox but I’d met my match. He can really talk and it’s all about him and nothing else, for once I kept my mouth shut until he asked what my profession was. I was also surprised when he say grace, he didn’t talk like a Christian to me. Anyway I couldn’t be bothered to listen to his brag and instead joined the other guys from the 1st dive group (we belonged to the 2nd).
the page
I received a page from him on the day when I was doing spring-cleaning and the whole place was a total mess. Hey, who in the right mind would page for you at around noontime just to tell you that it took him one hour to get home after the pool lesson (yes, that was the opening line). I smelt something fishy. Anyway I advised him on shortest route I knew and bade a quick farewell. But instead of the bus service I recommended, he took one at the same bus stop as mine. Hmm, the fishy smell just gets stronger.
invitation to church
He invited us to his church on Valentine’s day during dinner after the 3rd pool lesson at McDonald’s. I don’t know whether he was targeting at me in particular or just anyone in general. But attending church service on a Sunday just didn’t appeal to me at all.
dinner
We were supposed to go for extra pool lesson on the coming Saturday but I couldn’t go and had to inform him as we were supposed to meet. I was surprised when he called at my work place to ask me out for dinner. I didn’t have any appointments. I was lazy. I wasn’t interested. I told him I had family dinner. He asked me out yet again. This time I had a genuine excuse (I really had a dinner appointment).
free time
I remembered we were on our way for dinner after our theory lesson and he casually enquired what I usually do during my free time. My 1st instinct was to close up and gave a vague answer. But I thought, hey this guy is just being friendly so I shared a bit. I found out that he attended this church God-knows-where and plays the guitar in the band (it didn’t occurred to me it’s a real band).
pulau dayang
I wanted to proceed to advance after the open-water course and he decided to join me too (his initial intention was to do the open-water only) and also buddy dive with me, which was fine by me. So now, he’s my permanent dive buddy. We did our advance at Pulau Dayang. It’s real tiring to do 7 dives in a day plus the fact that we did not catch enough winks. After the night dive, he served me dinner personally. It was a nice gesture, as I was feeling quite miserable since I murdered a few corals unintentionally. We were stargazing (or rather I was and he was gazing at me) when I saw my 1st and 2nd shooting star. I made a wish that I can find my significant other and I supposed my wish was granted there and then.
shakeapeare in love
He’s a good diver. I on the other hand made a lousy dive buddy because I kept knocking off his mask with my fins (he seemed quite upset about it but I didn’t have eyes installed on my fins). And I thought he’s going to find another buddy, so I was surprised when I received a dozen roses from him the day after the dive trip. Well this time when he asked me out on a date, I said yes. It was ‘Shakespeare in love’. Great movie but the date was ok. I hate it when guy friends touched me and he’s the real touchy sort, making me squeamish and all. He’s the 1st guy who didn’t send me home after a date. Anyway he called and told me how wonderful I was and asked what my impression of him was. I was tongued tight. He sent flowers (tiger lily this time) again soon after just before he left for his hometown over the weekend (I had a bit of problem finishing my counselling with my patient).
caught in the act
He’s really blunt with his feelings about me and every time I opened his email, my jaw would drop. I supposed I was slowly wooed over by his persistence and directness. I ever received an email about waiting too long for the right bus to come, missing those before that and ultimately boarding a quaky one. I supposed that led me to give both of us a chance. We were watching this performance (Caught in the Act, 6th Apr) which is part of the comedy festival and I decided to let him hold my hand, except that his hold was kind of slippery. I think I make life easy for him as I find wooing too tedious an affair.
jackpot
From there my love for him slowly blossoms. Each date is a new discovery of his personality and I realised I hit jackpot. I believed he is God’s gift to me and I know I want to spend my entire life with him. If anyone told me initially that I would be totally in love with this guy, I would think he’s a lunatic. But then God works in mysteriously ways.
My version
After the snorkeling trip to Redang, I had told myself that I must get my scuba-diving license. So when Siew Peck mentioned that her brother is organizing a class earlier in the year, I jumped at the chance to enroll. Since the 1st class had already started, I had to enroll in the 2nd one, which Shuhui was in as well.
diving class
It was the 1st day, and I was early since I took the company bus. And there I saw her, introducing herself to everyone that her name was Shuhui. Being the shy sort, I was wondering if this lady is in the same class because I really like to get to know her better. It turned out that she is, and I was the only guy in the class. The class went on really well, and I realized I couldn’t stop myself from getting close to her, which is odd since I have never felt this way before. When we went to McDonald’s across the pool, she went with the other group and somehow, I felt rejected. Again this is odd because the feeling of wanting to get close to her was so great. I think I compensated by talking l ots of nonsense that night.
pulau hantu
The classes went on and I asked her to buddy up with me, I guess for 2 reasons. The 1st is pretty obvious that I like to know her more and the 2nd one is that she is probably the best diver among all the girls. I also like her because she talks a lot, and I really enjoy listening to her stories about her trip to Nepal the previous year; this is one lady who knows what she wants in life. When we went to Pulau Hantu for our 1st Open-water in the bumboat, I really can’t stop starring at her. I was already thinking that this is the most wonderful woman I have ever met. Even after we finished, I kept on finding myself trying to be with her, and even wanting to accompany her home! Weird, never felt this way before.
pulau dayang
When she asked around for people who would like to join her for the Advanced Course, I jumped at the chance. She did a pretty good job convincing me, I agreed simply so that I can spend more time with her. As I got to know her more, I was even more excited when I found out she was a Christian. That probably is the one thing that sparked in me the desire to ask her out for a date. Anyway, we went for the course in Pulau Dayang, and during one of the nights we actually spend quite some time talking while we gazed at the stars. This lady is getting more and more attractive; we can talk about anything. During one of the dives, she actually kicked my mask off, which was not a big problem since we were taught how to handle the situation but somehow she felt really bad. So when we got home I sent a dozen roses to her workplace with the caption "thanks for being a great dive-buddy" hopefully to tell her it’s not a problem.
shakespeare in love
I asked her out for a movie "Shakespeare in Love", which she agreed. Frankly, the checking-out stage is completed and now my intention was to really start dating. The funniest thing is that my hands seem to have a life of their own and it could not help touching her. Since we are watching a movie, perhaps due to her good nature, she did not scream or even whacked my hands. I called her up when she reached home that night and talked again.
flowers
The first bouquet of flowers that was sent was more of a consolation. So I purposed myself that the next one will be one that I tell her of my real motive. The caption was "thinking of you" on a bouquet of tiger lilies.
caught in the act
During the 1st movie, my greatest surprise is that she laughs a lot, which makes me felt great. "She’s really enjoying herself," I thought. Since the Comedy Festival is coming up, it would be great to be with her again. Tickets were bought for Michael Lauzierre’s "Caught in the Act" at DBS Auditorium, and we had front row seats. When I met her at the MRT, I sort of slipped my hand next to hers and to my surprised she did not flinched even when I held her hand. I did not let go of it. The show was great because we can see everything and she did laugh, very often in fact. When the show finished, we found that it was pouring outside. So we walked a little bit, and sat at the steps of DBS Bank and we talked again while waiting for the rain to stop. She shared quite a bit of her grandmother, and I gave a hug for the 1st time, as she seems a little troubled. When the rain had stopped, we walked to Lau Par Sat for our supper.
wonderful
That’s how we met, I guess, my memory is not as good nowadays. But the more I got to know her, the more wonderful she seems to me...I do love her very much. God is really, really great.
Next: Marriage
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most recent update: July 23, 1999.
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