History Repeats Itself - (Episode 2)

Adela, the self-centered wife of Gustavo opened a window curtain into the past of this couple, and gave us a view of how they found themselves in the current debts of mess. In their desperate bid to turn-in Catalina, their daughter, as an emotional merchandise to Sebastian, Adela voiced her fears saying: "... I don't want our daughter to make the same mistake that I made".

Gustavo was shocked by this profound statement of his wife, so, he questioned her to know if, her choice of marrying him, over 2 decades ago was a mistake.

The truth however was that Adela had an age-long obsession with riches. When the time came for her to marry, she preferred to marry her heartthrob, Gustavo, than a wealthy rival, hoping that Gustavo too would be very rich in the future.

Gustavo however failed to make her dream of stupendous riches come true, he ended up becoming a middle-class Head of Administration, of a stock-broking firm in the city of Mexico. Adela would not settle for any middle-of-the-way, destination. She took over the steering wheel of family expenditures, and drove the family to live in a penthouse and filling their garage with expensive cars.

Having driven her family into insolvency by her compulsive and ostentatious spending lifestyle, and now finding her family at the precipice of financial bankruptcy, she deeply regretted not having married the wealthy rival of Gustavo, over two decades ago.

This is why she was hell-bent in 'selling-off' Catalina to any wealthy man, regardless of whether her daughter loved the man or not. Unfortunately, hard-working Gustavo was weakened with indecision and therefore, was subject to the emotional blackmails of his wife, surrendering the matrimonial rudder to her in financial and other matters. But destiny seems prepared to dribble her match-making scheme with a surprise package.

Gustavo, propelled by his wife, went ahead with match-making efforts, by making Catalina to escort him to the office. This was a pretext for the destined meeting with Sebastian. When the encounter happened, Sebastian fell in love at first sight with Catalina, without any promptings by Gustavo, who was not even present at the parking lot where it happened. Catalina too secretly acknowledged in her heart that the young man looked handsome.

By the time Gustavo arrived, the 'chanced meeting' between Catalina and Sebastian had been consummated into a destined meeting, as Gustavo confirmed that Sebastian is the man he had brought his daughter to meet. He later advised and encouraged Sebastian not to give up his attraction to his daughter, but should brace all obstacles to win her love.

A dinner date was set and the two went to one of the best restaurant in the city. Catalina enjoyed herself, so was Sebastian. He dropped her off at the gym where her boyfriend, Eduardo worked, but not without a memorable and forced kiss, which made Catalina to lightly slap him on the cheek.

Catalina was told by the gym owner that Eduardo had gone home because he was ill. She was so apprehensive that she decided to check on him at home. The next episode (3), would be a devastating shocker that would shatter her romantic dreams, as she would catch her boyfriend in a romantic compromise with Silvia.

It is quite significant that Kenia Gascon has always played the role of a rich and desperate 'sugar mummy' with hot pants of a sucker for con-boys, much younger than her. In the case of this Catalina y Sebastian telenovela, she was 10 years older than Eduardo, and had to be the first to practically propose marriage to this young lad. That was another repeat of history, in similitude of 'Marissa' falling head-over-heels for the younger 'Luis Alejandro Montero' of the Gardener's daughter telenovela.

Don GuadaLupe Mendoza seemed to have learned the lessons of history, so, he was determined not to repeat it's predictable doom. When his son and heir-apparent, Sebastian, told him that he had fallen in love with a girl called Catalina, in Mexico. He quickly instructed his right-hand man, Carmelo, to hire a private detective to investigate the family background of Catalina. He doesn't want his son to fall prey to gold-diggers, like he did with his late wife, Matilda, who bore him Sebastian.

Sebastian swore saying: "... I would not accept any girl for marriage who is not Catalina". In a similar fashion, Emilia also swore, when she heard that Sebastian has fallen in love with a city girl called Catalina, saying: "... I would not accept any man for marriage who is not Sebastian". She vowed to destroy Catalina.

The Four "Wives" of Destiny

Folashade Adekoya (I call her FSP), is one of our most devoted and active members of this telenovela garden, sent me this mail, and I strongly feel that the moral and other lessons from it would be a good tonic for our souls.

A little research showed that the wise story was written by an unknown author in years past, but the potency of the story still impacts, even today.

Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four
wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her
with rich robes and treated her to the finest of
delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always
showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he
feared that one day she would leave him for another.

He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and
was always kind, considerate and patient with him.
Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in
her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.

The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great
contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not
love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice
of her!

One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of
his luxurious life and wondered, "I now have four wives with me, but when
I die, I'll be all alone."

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I have loved you the most, endowed you with
the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying,
will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!", replied the 4th wife,
and she walked away without another word.. Her answer cut like a sharp
knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you all my life. Now
that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!", replied
the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!" His
heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and
you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep
me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!", replied the 2nd
wife. "At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave." Her
answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter
where you go." The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was
very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly
grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I
had the chance!"

In truth, we all have the 4 wives in our lives:

Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in
making it look good, it will leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will
all go to others.

Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been
there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power
and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will
follow us wherever we go.

Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us
that will follow us to the throne of God and continue with us throughout
Eternity.

Thought for the day:

Remember, when the world pushes you to your knees, you're in the perfect
position to pray.

Thanks again, FSP for this piece, I enjoyed it and I also hope others would too.