BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER FINDS "ANGEL IN DISGUISE"

Hesel

The Brownsville Observer is like my diary, an honest account of my feelings, beliefs, observations at any point in time.  

I've been open about the purpose of my trip to the Phillipines, a collection of 100 or so islands jutting up from the ocean floor equatorially adjacent to much of Viet Nam.

I told everyone who would listen that I was in search of a partner, not a duplicate of Nena, my wife of 49+ years, but someone else, willing to combine skill sets, ideas, viewpoints with affection.

The longest leg of my flight emanated from Houston, flying over the continental U.S., Canada, Alaska, yes, Russia, to Taipei, Taiwan, 16 hours, 5 minutes in the air, with 727 passengers sitting 9 abreast, 6 attentive Chinese stewardesses serving drinks, food, sashaying up and down the aisles in matching outfits, pearl earrings in each ear.

The object of my attention was Hesel, pictured above, a resident of Cagayan de Oro, an hour's plane ride south of Cebu City.  

Hesel agreed to meet me in Cebu, actually the Mactan Airport at Lapu Lapu, located in a small island just off Cebu.

We spent a week together, touring the botanical gardens on mountainsides outside the city, dining at the Top of Cebu, then meeting her family, parents, grandparents, an aunt, a cousin with an "American" boyfriend, etc.

It was a beautiful, undeserved, surreal week in my life.

Down the twisting mountain roads outside Cebu, our cab driver joined the radio to sing "Angel in Disguise," a song haunting me ever since.  

When Hesel, one month shy of 21, kept leaving me to be with her family, I realized she was not ready for this.  We parted, amicably, I hope.

Ana and I

In the wake of Hesel, accidentally, I met Ana Adoing, 37, accomplished, mature and ready.  On first meeting, she invited me to her home.  We talked, talked and talked more.  About everything.

Ana and I walked her neighborhood in Bugo, a suburb of Cagayan de Oro,  exchanging pleasantries with many friendly neighbors, then venturing outside the town through the Del Monte banana and papaya plantations.

Today, from my hotel room in Cebu City, I asked Ana to marry me.  She said that, although she already knows the answer to my question, she wants to ride the ferry from CDO to Cebu Tuesday morning and give me her response in person.

Wish me luck.