My aunt's first love

My Aunt Hue is my father's older sister.  She lives in Montreal now, so I am not able to reach her for an interview.  It's too bad.  She loves to talk.  And talk.  And talk.

A few years ago, she went to Cambodia in search of surviving family members.  Unfortunately, she didn't find any relatives.

But she did find her first love.

Okay, her meeting wasn't as spontaneous as in the movies or as cute as Alana's first encounter with her husband.  My aunt, who was widowed for many years, was keeping in touch with a man from her past for a long time.  Very few people knew about their long-distance relationship.  I was unaware that my aunt even had a first love.

My dad told me that when Aunt Hue was a teenager, she was infatuated with someone named Mengheng.  However, she kept her feelings for him to herself.  Back then - and even now - males are believed to be the ones to make the first move.

Apparently Mengheng liked her too, but he was also shy to tell her how he felt.  As a result, they never confessed their adoration for each other.  They married other people and had children.  They both lost their first spouses in the genocide.  They lost touch during the Khmer Rouge regime and for several years after that.

Fast forward to 2005.  My aunt went to Cambodia with the intention of searching for our relatives and meeting with The One That Got Away.

When she returned, she told us she was now married.  Yep, she and Mengheng eloped.  (Aww!)  They are still happily together.

I just wanted to share this with you guys to show you that not every story posted on here is sad and full of despair.  Although they had an uneventful start to their relationship and were separated by both their cowardliness and the genocide, they were eventually reunited and are now making up for lost time.