Fearing that no one would marry me, my mother forced me to marry a dishwasher whose daughter was three years old. On the day of my wedding, while I was going to pick up the bride, my mother suddenly fainted, and I was stunned to see who would come out…
For ten years, my mother had only one fear:
‘You’re forty, Miguel! If you don’t get married now, you might grow old alone!’
In our small barangay outside Manila, I was known as Miguel, the plumber and electrician: dark-skinned, quiet, and not particularly handsome.
Family Matters
Whenever marriage was mentioned, the neighbors would say:
Oh, it’s hard to find a wife.
«I got used to being alone, until one day my mother said:
‘Maria, there’s a woman on the corner. She’s kind, calm, and hardworking.
She has a three-year-old son, but she’s a good girl. Marry her, my son. Don’t choose.’
I remained silent.
I didn’t love her, but I felt sorry for my elderly mother.
It was just the two of us at home.
I agreed. If not for me, then at least for my mother.
The wedding preparations were simple. My mother was very happy and even bragged to the neighbors:
‘My future daughter-in-law is poor, but she respects others and is very hardworking.’
The day of the wedding arrived.
The sun was shining brightly, as if burning my skin.
I was wearing only a rented coat, and the hand holding the bouquet was still trembling.
The procession stopped in front of an old house in Quezon City.
My mother asked:
‘Why don’t I see her three-year-old child? She always brings him with her when she washes dishes.’
I also said that perhaps the woman’s family was hiding him to avoid gossip.»
My mother nodded, visibly relieved
I was outside, with a heavy heart. I had no idea how this marriage would turn out.
When the music started and the bride descended the stairs, I heard a loud ‘thud!’ behind me: my mother had fallen!
Everyone panicked. I went to her, but I saw her staring straight ahead, mouth open, hands trembling.
When I turned around, I froze, stiffened, and broke out in a cold sweat.
The woman in front of me was no longer the same dishwasher I had seen in the cafeteria.
She was no longer wearing her old clothes or sandals. Instead, she wore a white wedding dress, and gold jewelry adorned her neck, hands, and hair, sparkling in the sun.
Our family whispered:
‘Wow, just a dishwasher, and yet she looks rich?’
Even the bride’s family was surprised:
‘Maybe the groom’s family is rich, but it doesn’t show!’
Then the bride’s parents came out, dressed in barongs and elegant outfits, calm and smiling:
‘Good morning, friends. Today we present to you our youngest son.’
My mother smiled, but suddenly a three-year-old boy ran to her and hugged the bride’s dress, crying:
‘Sister, take me with you!’
Everyone was shocked. They thought he was the bride’s son. But the bride’s mother smiled and explained:
‘He is also my son. He is our youngest.
He is very attached to his sister, so wherever she goes, he wants to go too.
Last summer, he and his sister went to help wash dishes at our cousin’s bar.’
Everyone laughed, but then we realized we had been mistaken.
Family Matters
The wedding went off without a hitch. It was full of laughter and joy.
I thought I was marrying just to make my mother happy, but in the end, I found a good, beautiful wife with a heart of gold.
So, don’t be afraid of a late marriage.
Sometimes the right person comes along, even if you’re forty.
Just like me, Miguel, from a quiet barangay in the Philippines.
