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.

Catalina y Sebastian: Millionaire Men Don't Grow on Trees!

Tonite, the first episode of that 8-year old telenovela, "Catalina y Sebastian" began showing on T.V. We saw a much younger (and slimmer) Silvia Navarro "Catalina", dominantly featured as the principal actress.

Like every telenovela at the beginning, there is always a "PAST" shrouded in secrecy, that would always return to threaten and haunt the beautiful future.

Our famous actor (Sergio Klainer), "Lic Ordonez" of The Gardener's daughter fame, played the role the conscientious father of Catalina, called "Gustavo Negrete" and he had an avaricious wife, called "Adela" (Claudia Islas), who lives in a facade of glamorous life that her husband's income could not sustain.

This precarious situation drove that family into a mountain of debts that threatened Gustavo with imprisonment, and his family with eviction and a life of misery. The greed, selfishness and ambition of Adela triggered an intrigue to 'sell-off' Catalina into a dreaded marriage, to one old rich man- "Don GuadaLupe Mendoza" (Fidel Garriga).

But destiny played a fast one on them, as Don Lupe got injured from falling off a horse in his ranch, so it was his son, "Sebastian Mendoza" (Sergio Basañez- our "Diego", of 'Cuando Seas Mia' fame), who substituted for him at the ordained meeting with Gustavo.

Catalina had her own romantic dreams, which she nursed, to get married to her heartthrob - Eduardo. But Eduardo betrayed that dream by secretly dating an older rich lady for her money. That rich lady was called "Silvia" (Kenia Gascon) or Marissa Gomez, of the famed gardener's daughter telenovela. She would show up tomorrow in Episode 2. I look forward to know how she looked 8 years ago. She must have had a young look then to have rivaled 'Paloma' in a telenovela.

In the ranch, the newly arrived heir and son of Don Lupe- Sebastián, faced a silent war waged by the usurper foreman of the ranch, called "Carmelo" (Alberto Mayagoitia).

He was embittered and envious of Sebastian. Having served Lupe as servant from youth, he felt threatened that, Sebastián being the heir-apparent, would take all his privileges and favors, which he had taken for granted, in the absence of "Diego", pardon me, I mean to write Sebastián.

Carmelo was orphaned from boyhood. His origin was shrouded in mystery, a mystery that haunted him until adulthood. He lived in the believe of an unproven rumor that he was the bastard child of Lupe. He never knew the love of any parent when he grew up in the ranch, except the generous disposition of jolly good old man Lupe, (who is in his 50's), and that of an old maid called "Petra". This is what set the stage for intrigues, rumors, forgeries and scandal that later made the life of Sebastián a misery....

"Vanessa Sotomayor" (Alejandra Lazcano), was another character from the gardener's daughter that showed up here in Catalina y Sebastian. She played the role of "Martina", the lovely younger sister of Sebastian. She had a friend called, "Emilia" (María Rebeca). Emilia would play the role of a Jealous, desperate, scheming lover, like that of Jennifer de la Vega, of the gardener's daughter telenovela.

Emilia would set as her mission, the destruction of Catalina, so that she could marry Sebastian. She would go to ugly lengths to fulfill her mission, as this telenovela rolls on.

One mortal and vengeful enemy we cannot forget to mention in this snippet is Madam "Antonieta", played by Regina Torné. Her enmity with Don Lupe was rooted in the secret and odious past. Being a sworn enemy of Lupe Mendoza, she carefully planed how to bring down and ruin him, using members of his household against him. She promises to be the "Consuelo Alcantara" of this novela.