Dear Readers,
I've been meaning to write this for a while now. But the delay in writing has been worth it, I assure you!
On Thursday, July 15, the love of my life arrived safely on Costa Rican soil. After what was an already long 31-hour journey from the Philippines to Costa Rica, our first meeting got delayed yet again.
This time, it wasn’t anything to do with government officials in the Philippines or COVID-19. The forces we had been battling with over the last 3 to 4 months.
In a small room in the airport, Jesa stood tall with a courageous face, not knowing what to expect. The six officers before her were from Costa Rica's Ministry of Immigration and wanted to ask questions about why she was in the country. They questioned her for hours on end without stopping and it felt like torture. Jesa—tired, hungry and thirsty—didn't falter though, answering all of their questions with confidence.
I waited for Jesa for 4 hours, abiding my time and worried, mostly sitting in the rental car in the airport’s parking lot.
Jesa’s eyes were partially bloodshot and her face was dotted with sweat when she finally joined me. After a long interrogation, two officers escorted Jesa to where I waited outside the airport terminal and lurked behind her at a short distance. I didn't notice them at first.
The way I saw it, there was no one who could stop me from holding my girlfriend in my arms. Not after everything we've been through. Heck, a legion of officers could've been standing there with guns drawn and I still would've grab her up in my arms.
Finally, after nineteen long, arduous months, we closed the distance between us. We hugged tightly, arms wrapped around each other's waist and back, embracing outside the airport with the immigration officers as our witnesses.
Of course, the officers had a few questions for me. I wasn’t dumb, as I knew their game. They were investigating me. They wanted to see if my answers matched Jesa’s answers.
Luckily, dating for nineteen months at a distance, Jesa and I got to know each other well. And of course, our answers matched, because it was our truth, our reality, the story of our togetherness.
One of the officers was reluctant to let Jesa go with me. The two officers were arguing in Spanish. Luckily, Jesa's native tongue Tagalog contains several Spanish words. From what she did understand, she got the sense from their brief dialogue that our answers didn't satisfy the supervising officer.
But in the end, after Jesa waited 4 grueling hours after her plane landed, the immigration officers gave in and let her leave with me. After walking both of us to the rental car, they said their goodbyes, and we got inside the car.
Hugging for what seemed an eternity.
It was our first genuine moment alone together and all we wanted was each other.
And as always, thank you so much for your continued support!
In the next updates, find out what happened in the weeks after Jesa got to Costa Rica.
Yours truly,
—Alex
P.S. I just set up my online store where you can purchase all my published books directly through me. Check it out here: Books By Bentley
Happy For You
Congratulations. That what true love means. Pray that your love ends to forever. We love you my beautiful niece and welcome to Cordero’s family Johnny😍