Aling Ligaya* was married to Mang Boy*, an unemployed, physically abusive drunk who beat his wife when he’s intoxicated. All her friends advised Aling Ligaya to leave her husband, but she couldn’t. We assumed that it was because of her children.
After several years, however, her children got old enough to understand their mother’s situation. One of my conversations with Ann, the oldest, assured me that they would understand should their mother decide to leave their father. She didn’t.. We assumed, then, that she was scared Mang Boy would hunt him down if she did.
After several more years, I learned that Mang Boy had a stroke and was left invalid from the waist down.
"Finally, Aling Ligaya was free,’ we thought.
We were wrong. Aling Ligaya stayed with Mang Boy. She took care of him, fed him, bathed him, and did everything to make him feel comfortable. The mean old man, on the other hand still abused her verbally. He would yell at her like he used to do and in his inability to hit her with his fist, he would grab anything nearby, usually a bowl of leftover soup, and throw at his loving wife.
At this point in time, we knew our battle was lost. Aling Ligaya stayed for only one reason.. LOVE.
*not real name
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