Uniqueness

By Aymara Lorente

                                                                  To Pedro and all the people I love.


Here, in the United States, Valentine's Day is a celebration that includes not only couples, but all kinds of love, and I like this concept.  Children bring cards and candy to their teachers and classmates, friends are invited to go out, to have fun. Of course, if you are lucky enough to have somebody special in your life, this day is even more wonderful.

When we have a person to love and to experience life with, we try our best to keep him or her close, to make something great of every second we spend together.  To me, the secret to a great relationship is to respect the other half throughout the long path we take in our quest for happiness. But first, we need to know and consider ourselves to be able to help and support another person, and to allow our partner become whatever he or she dreams of. We learn to sail through harsh waters, and we try not to make the same mistakes because we care.  We work hard on our relationships every step of the way. But I think we overlook the unbelievable opportunity we have to get to know another person in a very close and detailed way.  A human being is something precious because it is not only what you see at a glance what really matters.  The most attractive and interesting traits of a human are, in my opinion, his heart and his mind, the things that make this person unique.

I have never forgotten what I once read about a mature couple, it was many years ago.  I remember they were TV actors, and she got breast cancer.  Somebody interviewed them after her operation, and what her husband said stayed with me all these years.  They had decided to quit their acting careers to concentrate on each other, and he explained that all he wanted to do, from that moment on, was to get to know her soul and her body in every minuscule detail. That idea and purpose, I think, was so profoundly emotional and thoughtful, that the concept comes to me like a flash, again and again. That man realized the treasure they shared, the love they were so lucky to feel, but most of all the great opportunity we have in life of getting to know another human being in an intimate level and a loving way. It is like having a whole world to discover embodied in the one we care for.  Our partner is a precious map we have to consciously get to walk slowly, so we do not miss any marvelous detail of his flesh and soul.