Chapter 8
Other Boyfriends, Other Girlfriends
Many years later, whenever the family asked 阿嬤 how she and Grandpa
had fallen in love, they expected a romantic story.
Instead, she laughed.
Then she surprised everyone.
“There were other people,” she said matter-of-factly.
It was one of those moments that made everyone around the table laugh.
The grandchildren looked up in disbelief. Surely 阿嬤 and Grandpa,
who had spent a lifetime together, had known from the very beginning
that they were destined for one another.
阿嬤 remembered it differently.
As they spent more time together, neither of them immediately stopped
meeting other people. 阿嬤 had other young men who were interested in her. Grandpa had other young women who admired him.
That, she explained, was simply how life was. No promises had been made.
No one had declared themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. They were still
getting to know one another, and neither pretended otherwise.
What is striking is not that there were other admirers. It is the ease with which 阿嬤 spoke about them. There was no jealousy in the story. No attempt to rewrite the past into a perfect romance. Only an honest recollection of two young people taking their time.
As the months passed, something quietly changed.
Grandpa continued to appear at the family home after work. They
continued to spend Saturdays walking through Ximending. Her parents grew
to trust him. His kindness never seemed forced. It revealed itself in
the same quiet ways, day after day.
Without either of them announcing it, the other possibilities slowly
faded into the background. Not because anyone demanded it. Because they no longer mattered. 阿嬤 never described a dramatic turning point.
Instead, she spoke about certainty arriving so gradually that it was
almost impossible to notice when it happened. One day they were simply two young people getting to know each other. Somewhere along the way, they had become the people with whom they wanted to build a life.
There is something quietly reassuring about the way 阿嬤 tells this
story.
She reminds us that lasting love is not always built on instant
certainty. Sometimes it grows because two people consistently choose one
another, until eventually no other choice feels imaginable.
That was the love story she remembered — not perfect, not dramatic, simply true.
第八章
各自還有別人
許多年以後,每當家人問阿嬤和阿公是怎麼相愛的,他們期待聽到一個浪漫的故事。
結果,她笑了。
然後,她讓所有人都吃了一驚。
“還有其他人耶,”她平平淡淡地說。
那是讓餐桌上的每個人都笑了的時刻之一。孫輩們難以置信地抬起頭。阿嬤和阿公在一起過了一輩子,難道不是從一開始就知道他們是命中註定的嗎?
阿嬤記得的不一樣。
隨著他們在一起的時間越來越多,兩個人都沒有立刻停止和其他人見面。阿嬤有其他對她有興趣的年輕男子。阿公也有其他欣賞他的年輕女子。
她解釋,那是因為人生本來就是這樣。沒有人做過承諾。沒有人宣布過他們是男女朋友。他們還在認識彼此,誰也不想假裝不是這樣。
令人印象深刻的,不是有其他的仰慕者。而是阿嬤說起他們時的那份坦然。故事裡沒有嫉妒。沒有試圖把過去改寫成完美愛情的企圖。只有兩個年輕人慢慢來的誠實回憶。
幾個月過去了,有些事悄悄地改變了。
阿公繼續在下班後出現在家裡。他們繼續在星期六漫步西門町。她的父母越來越信任他。他的善良從來不顯得刻意。它就是用同樣安靜的方式,日復一日地展現著。
在沒有人宣布的情況下,其他的可能性漸漸退到了背景之中。不是因為有人要求,而是因為它們不再重要了。阿嬤從來沒有描述過一個戲劇性的轉折點。
她說的,是確定的感覺來得那麼慢,慢到幾乎沒有人注意到它是什麼時候發生的。有一天,他們只是兩個正在認識彼此的年輕人。不知道從什麼時候開始,他們成了彼此想要一起打造人生的那個人。
阿嬤說這個故事的方式,有一種讓人安心的地方。
她提醒我們,持久的愛情不一定是建立在瞬間的確信之上的。有時候,它的成長,是因為兩個人一次又一次地選擇了對方,直到最後,再也想像不出其他的選擇了。
那就是她記得的愛情故事——不完美,不戲劇化,卻是真的。