It's Yesterday Once More .....

Did she hear the phone bell ring? She ran to the other room and picked up the receiver because these were times when there was no mobile phone. This was the time when her husband, a soldier, was deployed in a field area and her only link with him was either a letter or a phone call through the army operator. It used to be months before she could see him because there was no video calling available. Love in those times was very strong and unconditional because she was happy to hear his voice once a week over a disturbed line. It was more difficult for him because he was away from home, away from the smell of home cooked food, away from the chatter of his kids.

Her name was Sia and his was Stew. Sia graduated in English literature and was a romantic at heart. She did not want to pursue a career. Her dream was to get married to a tall army officer after her graduation. Her friends thought she had lost it because they all wanted to pursue a career. It was an era when women were given the choice to do so. God listened to her and within months of her graduation she did get married to a tall good looking army officer in an arranged set up. Both of them fell in love with each other from day one of their meeting. Their married life began on the right note and they made the most of their time together in peace area.

After a year they welcomed their bundle of joy, their son, their pride, the entire family's pride.

Love grew stronger with each passing day and they became dependent on each other emotionally, physically and in every possible way. Stew was always around whenever the family needed him. Money was less but happiness and contentment was in plenty. Stew continued to scale newer heights in his career with Sia's unconditional support. She did not do anything else other than look after her family by cooking, cleaning, washing and never ever cribbed. Their son grew up with the right values and in a very stable environment of the army. All kids grew up with same values, same furniture in the house, same mess parties to attend, same status, which was very important in the formative years.

Then Stew decided to leave the army as old parents needed emotional support now and that was only possible with a stationery job and lifestyle and most importantly their physical presence. So another phase began in their life and it was quite a change to adjust to civil life for both, esp Sia after the pampering a woman gets in the army. Army life moved at a slow pace but now everything was moving at a fast pace.

After staying all by themselves, it was difficult to initially adjust staying with others but since both were together in it with the same beliefs, they sailed through and were successful in removing all obstacles that came their way. Together they looked after both sets of parents with utmost respect and care and became an inspiration for others. The innumerable trips to the hospitals, looking after ailing parents and managing their own lives taught them life skills which no book can. They matured faster together because it was not an easy life. They were committed to each parent. This was only possible because they loved each other without saying it fifty times on Facebook to the world or even to each other. They had faith in each other and the almighty. They always believed that the move from the armed forces was God's way of guiding them towards a more fulfilling life of serving their parents. They did miss their army life and their son missed the chicken 65 made in the mess.

They say in middle age husband and wife become a habit with each other. One cannot do without the other. That's what Sia and Stew experienced too.

Stew was always more mature, patient and understanding of the two. He overlooked a lot of mistakes that Sia made, controlled her temper when she flew off the handle, talked to her when she was depressed, stood by her like a rock in any eventuality, without any optics, because he always believed that love is having faith in your partner without any doubts. Sia was very naive when she got married, did not know anything about worldly matters. She learnt it all from Stew. She learnt that true love is not shouting from the mountain top and saying ' I love you'. True love is to give your all to your lover without any questions asked.

Despite having different personalities, different ideas about life, they read into each other's minds and became best friends by embracing the other's thoughts easily. They still stand by each other in front of others, without any ego, and always disagree behind closed doors.

Love is not instant, one may feel they have fallen in love at first sight but real love only happens once two people share a life together, adjust to each other's likes & dislikes without imposing themselves on each other. Love is accepting your partner the way he/she is without trying to change them to your liking. Love is standing by each other come what may. It is also very important to express your love so that your partner knows how much he/she is loved. This reassures and strengthens their faith.

Today, Sia and Stew have fulfilled all their parental responsibilities and are now fulfilling their grandparental responsibilites by bringing up their granddaughter together. They have grown up together and have become each other's habit. They are still very much in love as they were thirty six years ago. Their quest for love is still continuing because they are finding love in all the new things they do together while growing older together. They have come a long way but it still feels like it's yesterday once more......