My Meaning of Soul Mate
By Mona, age 17, Philippines
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
When we hear the term 'soul mate' what phrase or word comes to our minds right away? The person you love? The person you will spend the rest of your life with? This is the conventional meaning of the term 'soul mate' - our destined partners.
But I have a different meaning of 'soul mate'. When we watch romantic movies, they always show a soul mate as the person you are destined to be with forever. The person who understands and accepts you as you are. He does not recognize your flaws, and he is that one person who will fight for you, who will stand in front of a truck with you so that he can die with you by his side.
What if we see all these qualities in a person, but don't see him in that way? You know what I mean? Like, he's just a friend and nothing more, but he does all these things for you, but you still don't consider yourselves as a couple. He is your friend, but you don't see each other that often because he lives in a different city. But he is just a text message or instant message away when you need someone to talk to.
My story begins here. I have a friend whose name is Antonio. I met him when I was in the fifth grade. During that time, I was still discovering the essence of crushes and the idea of puppy love. He was a transfer student, and he was already in the sixth grade. But back in elementary school I was in a really tiny school, so everyone knew each other. He was the only transfer student, so we were buzzing over him. He wasn't the 'really hot' type of guy. He was a normal, slightly scrawny, little boy. But he had amazing cheek bones and that really stood out. His face was structured, and I thought he was a bit cute.
The first few weeks of school passed before my friends and I befriended him. All four of us in the group had a crush on him, but I wasn't really into him yet. My friend was more into him than I was, so she made me befriend Antonio because she was shy. When I started to get to know him, a part of me admired him. He was a sensitive and funny guy. Of course, I didn't realize this back then when I was a naive fifth grader.
Time passed, and I too was crushing on him. We started text messaging and chatting online. My friend, who had a really big crush on him, was fine with it. She found out that he wasn't really her type anyway. I know I was still too young, but at one point during my friendship with him - I admit it - I fell in love with him.
He graduated and went to high school and I didn't see him for a year. My crush on him faded during the sixth grade since I didn't get to see him. Fortunately, I got into the same high school as him, and I saw him again on the first day ... right when I entered the high school gate! He greeted me with a smile, but didn't talk to me because I think he was rushing to his class.
I didn't want to like him again. I was so confused. We started text messaging again, and his friends knew, and they started teasing me every time we passed each other in the corridors. I hated the teasing so much!
During my third year, I fell in love with someone else. Antonio and I still kept on communicating, but we were like two normal friends. Finally, he graduated, and I haven't seen him since. From time to time, he would still text message me, asking how I was, and all that.
It's been 8 years since I met him. And for 8 years now, he has never forgotten to greet me on my birthday, and during Christmas and the New Year. I ask him stuff about his life, and he asks about mine. He also gives me advice and he shares his feelings. Even if I haven't seen him for 3 years, he is still a big part of my life because of the text messages and emails we still send each other. He is such a great friend, and I admire him for it ... No, not in that kind of way. I admire him as a friend. I admire him as the one person who has always been there for more than half of my life.
I believe he is my soul mate. He isn't the person I'm going to spend the rest of my life with, he isn't the person I'm going to start a family with, but he will be that guy who will always be there standing beside me, watching me as I walk down the aisle and spend the rest of my life with that special someone out there.