Valentine's Day

I ended up spending Valentine's Day with 78-year-old Peter. He is here to run his own NGO. His wife died of cancer 6 years ago. Her birthday was on Valentine's Day. I saw him at a coffee shop by himself and started chatting with him. I could tell that he was sad and probably didn't want to be alone at home so I invited him to join me for dinner.

Peter and his wife met 5 years before they started dating. At the time, his wife-to-be was married to a Dutch client of Peter's. The first time they met, he knew that she was the right person for him if he decided to remarry. He often dined with the couple but avoided being alone with Christine.

Several years later, Peter was relocated to London. Christine found out about it from the newspaper. She called Peter's secretary to set up a lunch appointment but instructed the secretary to put down a fake name on Peter's calendar.

Christine showed up as planned. When she asked Peter to have lunch with her, he declined saying that he was having lunch with Mr. Johnson, the fake name Christine used. Christine explained that she was already divorced and she was the "Mr. Johnson".

Two years later, Peter proposed to her 2 days before Valentine's Day. Christine waited until Valentine's Day to say her "Yes" which she put on a small heart-shaped card. Until today, Peter still kept the "yes" card with him.

From Tanzania, Africa