Over a beer in the pub in the evening, Mark tells me why some people like to dwell on the past glory. He states that today’s life is too intense and not everyone succeeded to prolong the achievements that they have done in the past, let’s say in the university day. By dwelling on, they feel important, because there is nothing right now that sufficiently able to match what was then.
So, I asked him back, what sort of glory he had in the hey-day. He shook his head, “None. Nothing. So you see things really turn out as I had hoped because I never had anything to dwell on.”
My phone rings. Catherine is in the other line. “Hey, can you baby-sit Max this weekend? I know you told me before that you are booked out and this is not your turn, but there is something comes up, very important. “
She does like that all the time. Every second and fourth week in the month, it is my duty to spend time with Max, my twelve year old son with Catherine. We like to spend a father and son time by visiting museums, cooking, or walking in the great outdoors. Max definitely a mixture of both of me and Catherine. He got his cuteness and adorable looking from Catherine, and I suppose he got his edgy opinionated attitude from me.
I went to the university with Catherine. She was the “it” girl, and I could never be in her league, although I always adore her beauty that I found so blinding. It is so blinding, that when I met her thirteen years ago again, I found her beauty was blinded me to take her as my wife, hence she was a twice divorcee and looking for love.
Now, there was a reality check that was happened before we end up getting married: I was only a disgruntled writer who teaches creative writing subject at university and hates bad grammar and terrible melodramatic plot I found in my student’s work. I told Catherine about that over a date and what surprised me was that actually that is the thing she always remember me back in the university day. She was so impressed that I can use all my talent and knowledge we learnt then as a profession. I felt over the moon and I found Catherine looks even more beautiful and I was in love with her. It was rainy that day, and we end up getting married in a simple wedding party and I feel so happy. But It was not lasting long until the married become so volatile and Catherine decided to leave me. I tried so many things as I could to make her stay, but she insists to walk out with Max who was only 1 year old that time. Court order decided the visitation time, and I was more than happy to do it, so I could have a reason to see Catherine. Yes, Max too. But I always have this glimpse of hope that Catherine would have to consider me again.
“So, can you?” I hear her again in the other line.
For a moment, I was in silence again in the middle of voices in the pub that is getting noisier. I ponder this time, is it me or Catherine who succeeded to retain the glory.