Post lang ako dito to express my feelings related to "the one that got away." I've been posting a few of my sad love stories on GT and sad to say that I'm posting another one. I posted a few years ago about a love story I had way back in 2001 when I was still a teenager and in love. I call him my "greatest love", the one I wanted to spend my whole life with, the one I would have married. We got engaged when I was 18 and he was 25. The plan was a few years of engagement and when everything was in its right place, we'd tie the knot. But we drifted apart because of my dad. For 10 years after the breakup, I longed for him and hoped that he would come back. It was insane, but I never lost that hope. It was the kind of love you couldn't easily forget. I entered several relationships after ours ended, some short-term, a couple were long-term, but I never wanted to get married. I only wanted him. I was looking for someone who could change my mind and believe in marriage again, even if it wasn't with him. I was too stupid to hold on to that love. In 2012, after more than 10 years, I decided to end my stupidity. I realized I was being unfair to everyone, including myself.
That same year, he came back; not really came back to me specifically, but we met again in a very odd way. And then I was hit, got confused, got mad and had almost gone crazy when he said he wanted me back. But I was in a relationship at that time. So I spent days making a decision, whether I would give in to the old love I had always wanted or stay with the person I love and loves me just the same. I chose the latter, and for the second time, I watched him drift away from me. It was heartbreaking but fulfilling at the same time. I knew I made the right decision.
After 2 years, the relationship I chose ended. I was duped. It was too painful that I can't explain how it felt. I was left behind and replaced in an instant. My world shattered. What was more devastating was the thought that I let go of the one whom I thought was my "greatest love" for that person. Not that I regret it. I just realized that I must have loved this person so much that I chose him over the one that got away, when I dreamed of that person for a decade.
Just recently, I just found out from a friend that my greatest love is married now and that he considers me as the one that got away. I smiled, with a little pang inside me, thinking how we ended up as such for each other.