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until many years to come was “Have a good life!” With that statement he slammed down phone receiver. Leaving only an echo of the dial tone to answer back too. I was to paralyzed from the shocking response. “What have I just done?” was the first thing that entered my thoughts.
Overwhelmed with guilt I felt like I was falling down a deep and dark hole and then the tears began to flood in. Here I was standing at the dawn of a new happy life for myself and I couldn’t see past how bad I had let Jeffrey down not yet seeing the hold he had on me.
Like my knight on a white horse, in came my hero to soothe my somberness. He rushed over to the bed where I was beating myself up mentally and wiped the falling tears from my cheeks. “I take it that it didn’t go so well…huh?” Sniffling through my sobs I managed to tell him that “It doesn’t matter anymore all I care about is you and leaving all of that life behind me!” I wrapped my arms around him and he asked me in a half joking voice “Then why are you crying?” He got me almost laughing now too “I guess it’s just so scary taking such a huge plunge away from what I’m used too and taking such a big move to another country. It’s just all so different and I’m just trying to comprehend everything that is happening in such a short time.” Always out to lift my spirits his next comments made me gush in laughter “You think that was a hard phone call wait until I call my Sicilian mother! Watch this, I know exactly what she’ll say. First it’ll be a saga about how I’m killing her with my selfish actions then it’ll be about how she’s going to kill herself for doing such a terrible job raising normal children. Don’t worry though, she’ll love every second of it. Wogs thrive off of the drama in their lives and off everybody else’s for that matter!!” He was pretty much on the dot when he told me how she’d react to the news. In the end after relentlessly trying to change his mind, she sighed, “If it was going to be anybody to do something as crazy as this, Robbie, it would be you!” It wasn’t a blessing as such but at least she wasn’t threatening suicide any longer.
Calling the closest of our families the night before our wedding to share with them our announcement wasn’t celebrated by any members of either sides but that didn’t discern us one bit. My parents took it well, considering their only daughter was marrying a foreign man that they didn’t know from the next guy on the street and too top it off I was moving to Australia, permanently. When I asked my Dad many years later why they hadn’t put up a fight, he just simply replied that nobody expected it too last very long. Fair enough, I thought. I don’t think anyone did at first…even us at our toughest times. We were a rare attribute these days in the numb era we have all been accustomed to living in, turning nothing into something, which I had also come to realize, was the most precious gift in life…Love.

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Falling asleep was easy to do in his arms that night. I laid my head on top of his chest listening to the drum of his beating heart. I had never felt like I was more at home than ever before in my life. He pulled me gently in closer to him, letting me know that he was there for me even when the lights went out and the thoughts would usually creep in. Amazing how he knew what I needed without even asking for it. Wishing for something like this my whole life I thought I was being such a fool in so many ways, but I was so wrong. The way his pretty eyes looked at me with such an understanding and compassionate sincerity made me want to trust his words and believe the love that he was offering me was indeed real.
The next morning, Robbie was up and out of bed early to pick up our tailored wedding suits and dresses for our big day at Doi Cept Temple. His best friend from high school days that was travelling with him from Australia met him in the hotel lobby at seven o’clock. He was going to be joining us for the wedding as Robbie’s best man. He still hadn’t been able to find black shoes to go with the suit, so after he dropped off my dress back to me he was off again to try and find himself a pair of decent looking ones. Overjoyed with excitement I was thrilled from the second I kissed Robbie good-bye for the last time before we were officially married. Looking in the same mirror only a week ago I was now a different person, I felt like I was plunging into a bottomless abyss. Here I go, I thought to myself as I plunged out the door letting the butterflies in my stomach carry me all the way to my nearly husband.
I had to go to the beauticians that morning for my pre- wedding makeup and dressing. The ladies who were doing my hair and face at the salon did a great job making me feel so beautiful for my special occasion that every girl dreams about their whole entire life. Requesting simplicity at best, not wanting to go overboard with all of the wedding apparel they tied my long hair up into a knot wrapping around it a veil of flowers made up of baby’s breath and small yellow and purple budding flowers. I couldn’t have dreamt it up better myself and when I met my husband to be at the bottom of the mountain he stood before me speechless “You look so… beautiful!” were his first words that his mouth formed almost whispering them. He took my hand and we walked into the sky lift together. Behind us followed an interpreter that Robbie hired to translate the Buddhist Monks ceremony speech for us English only speakers and then his best friend, who only moments before gave him the best mans speech about being the last chance to walk away from this and not get married to a girl he hardly knew, but my Robbie wouldn’t hear a word of it. He already made up his mind the instant he proposed and I said yes, “I was born to be with this girl,” he told his best mate. “Alright then lets go do this then!” Once he knew Robbie was sure in his decision he was more than ecstatic for him. We were slowly lifted up the tremendous mountainside,

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