Secret Garden

Following the recommendation of friends, I watched a Korean Drama that recently finished airing called Secret Garden.  It was good.  Really good.  Not only did I like the actors/actresses (Hyun Bin is so dreamy and Ha Ji Won has an edgy yet soft side), the storyline drew me in from the first episode.  Here's a synopsis if you haven't heard of it before:  http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Secret_Garden.

The drama did have its moments where it was cliché and predictable, but what drama doesn't?  And even though some of the events in the drama were so out there that they could never happen in real life, there was still a core that I could relate to that made me believe that I had just witnessed a great love that was real and that love can conquer all.

That leads me to the question, can love really conquer all?  I remember asking my ex this once.  He didn't believe that love was enough to get through all of the hardships of life.  It's hard to argue against this when the facts show that the divorce rate in America is almost 50%.  [As an aside, I've always heard that money is the number one reason for divorce.  Interestingly, this article states that money is just a surface issue, and more serious problems lie underneath:  http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SuddenlySingle/MoneyIsntTheCulpritInMostDivorces.aspx]

I, on the other hand, still believe that love can be one of the strongest forces in this world.  It acts like a magnet.  If the feelings are mutual for both people, then nothing can keep them apart.  If it is only one-sided, though, then it doesn't matter how deep or intense one person's love is; the relationship won't last.  Granted, I don't see love beating down every door or stop sign in its way very often, but I have seen it triumph at least once in this lifetime.

During my last Christmas break two months ago, I went along with L & L to pick up my cousin from his friend's, N, house.  We went inside the house to say hi to N's parents and his other friends and found out that N had just proposed to his girlfriend, S, of about 5 years in front of the Waterwall.  It sounded very romantic.  He had told her to dress up because he was going to take her to the museum and dinner afterward.  When they finished at the museum, it was still early, so he suggested that they go to the Galleria area to pass the time before they went to the restaurant.  When they walked up to the Waterwall, a group of maybe 10 friends were there waiting for them, and N proposed to S.  She said, "Yes!" :)

Before we left, we asked S if she had told her parents yet.  She said she hadn't and that she was going to wait a little while.  She was planning on spending a few days at N's house until then.  A little background on N&S:  N&S started dating during their freshman year of college, and after they graduated, they both moved to California to go to grad school.  Extremely smart people with great hearts and personalities.  They were from different religions, though.  N's family was ok with this, but S's parents were strongly against the relationship from the beginning.  Although our parents are not the same people as we are, it's inspiring to see the two of them be together without any hesitation or resentment for their situation.

Love is not always easy, but the best things in life are worth fighting for.

And what about 10 or 20 years down the road?  After all the passion of our younger years has died down, and we're left with the ordinary routines of everyday life.  Would we still believe that it was worth it to compromise on having kids, on moving to another city, on being less religious, on spending money, etc, etc, etc?  Who knows.  This is a whole other topic in itself.  But for now, I still hope for some of that crazy kind of love so I can have memories to look back on when I'm older.