“I met my first love right after my mother’s death. The loneliness I felt when my mother died faded when I met Leonardo–my first love. He was a Balut vendor, like me.
I used to party a lot. But since I met Leonardo, my life has changed. He helped me find meaning to it.
But as much as I want to believe that forever is real, death seems to knock at my door again.
That morning, he asked me to go home first because he still wants to sell the last pieces of balut in his basket. Leonardo was stabbed 16 times by seven men at around 3 a.m. for shallow reasons.
Overcoming pain is hard. But life has to go on and I think God has a purpose for everything. The reasons maybe to test my faith in Him and to make me strong.
I am happily married to my second husband now. My first love taught me that the magic of love can overcome life’s twists and turns.”