Silvia's Life

Silvia Meriwether, even in her mid-fifties, is an astonishing beauty: tall, slim, light-brown wavy hair, fabulous legs. Silvia's happy. Silvia has a very good life: she has a job she loves, her husband, Geoff, adores her,  they live comfortably in a beautiful house with a big garden in Scranton,  the kids are doing well in college. This is the story of how Silvia's very good life almost didn't happen.

I met Silvia in University. She was dating a soccer payer. One day, a gossipy colleague said that Silvia  broke up with the boyfriend. The next day I asked Silvia if she wanted to go for coffee, she hesitated for a moment and said "yes, sure" smiling. She told me that she broke up because "that guy" pressured her for sex and she wasn't ready. We started going on dates, dancing, to parties, and to my Thursdays Philharmonic (our first concert together was Lalo's Spanish Symphony). We made out in dark alleyways or on park benches. A few days before the Winter break, I asked Silvia to go with me to the mountains. She hesitated for a moment and said "yes, sure" smiling. I booked a room and bought train tickets and condoms. We would meet on Friday afternoon at the train station. 

I was walking up and down on the platform and kept looking towards the entrance, craning my neck to see over the throngs of passengers ready for the weekend rush out of the city. She was very late, the train was leaving in five minutes. The conductor said that the next train, the last of the day, is in two hours and I could use the same tickets. I spent two horrible hours asking myself what may have gone wrong. I didn't dare to go to a payphone for fear I'd miss her. Totally dejected I got onto the train and when I arrived at the hotel, I called Silvia. Her mother told me Silvia's too busy to come to the phone. I spent three miserable days in the mountains mostly drunk. 

On the first day back to school, Silvia said she wanted to go to the coffee shop to talk. She told me that she asked her mother for advice. Silvia's mother said that I didn't do well with studies, I drank too much, I didn't take things seriously, if we marry we'll have an unhappy life and miserable kids, I am not good for her and she should not go with me. 

Silvia and I  never spoke again. 

I heard  that during the summer break Silvia got a job at the International Center where she met Geoff, a visiting academic, they married a few months later and she moved with him to Scranton.

Silvia's happy. Some Thursdays Silvia puts on her LP with Lalo's Spanish Symphony, she listens with her thoughts far away.

 

Please play this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXpnNKNxJI&list=RD7LXpnNKNxJI&start_radio=1