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Difficult. Hopeless. Impossible.

By BARBARA GONZALEZ- VENTURA, The Philippine STAR Published Nov 28, 2020 4:00 pm Updated Nov 28, 2020 6:57 pm

I am proud to say that now I am very happily married. Of course life has somewhat changed with the quarantine, when we were told to stay home and, dutifully, we did.

In the beginning we woke up more or less together, had breakfast, then Loy — that’s my husband — would settle into his massive adjustable leather chair and watch the fights on TV. I would disappear into my workroom where all my things — from photographs to beads — are. Initially I fixed up our room: put all the saints we had into an altar. Then I decided to make a rosary out of my beads for the altar. That evolved into my making pretty rosaries now.

Now I’m always in my workroom making rosaries, the colors and designs of which continually change. My husband is still in front of the TV set watching everything imaginable — from boxing matches, to forensic films, to the world wars. Everything imaginable.

He is a lawyer. I was an advertising person for 33 years. No wonder we married each other

This morning he walked past me wearing a pair of old shorts. It was a faded pair, with tears and holes that looked uneven. I said, “We really should throw those shorts away. They are falling apart.” He looked at me and said, “They are just imitating me.”

I rolled my eyes up to the skies and decided: No! This has got to stop!

All this time I have been telling him to find himself something to do. Anything. Look at me. I’m making rosaries. But he cannot find anything he wants to do. All he knows how to be is a different kind of lawyer. He calls himself a crisis conceptualizer and a turnaround specialist. What is a “crisis conceptualizer”? If your situation is a crisis, he conceptualizes the most creative legal solution. If you are in a legal quandary, he will envision a creative legal way out. What is “creative”? I think it is anything out of the ordinary.

I know he won or solved a problem for one of his clients. This man was a distant relative of a priest who was an only son and who died ahead of his parents. His parents had a large property and they bequeathed it to the order to which the priest belonged. This relative felt he had a right to a portion of the inheritance. He came to my husband who, without taking anyone to court, solved the whole thing. Everyone was happy. The property was sold to a developer. The order earned what they hoped to earn. The man got some money and property from the developer. And my husband got paid.

God sent me Loy Ventura now when I'm in my 70s and he in his 80s. But we are still thinking people

What is a “turnaround specialist”? Whatever the situation is, Loy can turn it around. He is a very creative person when it comes to work. I told him that once, when I was in my 20s, a book called The Book of Lists came out. There it had a list of the “Biggest Liars”: No. 1 was lawyers; No. 2. was advertising people. “Those Most Likely to Commit Suicide”: Again, lawyers, followed by advertising people. He is a lawyer. I was an advertising person for 33 years. No wonder we married each other.

Now, probably because of my nagging him to do something that will occupy him, he says he is willing to give free legal advice. Actually, he has been saying that for a long time. I haven’t been listening. But after seeing him wearing his dilapidated old shorts and telling me that they’re as dilapidated as he is, I knew it was time for me to help hustle up something for him.

Before he retired, he was a very good lawyer. We have agreed that we should have met during martial law when I needed a good anti-Marcos lawyer to get custody of my son. I needed a lawyer who was bold enough to fight against the government then. But then, that was not what God wanted to send me.

My husband is an excellent lawyer. He will not take your case unless it is difficult, hopeless, impossible. That’s the kind of man he is. That’s why he married me

God sent me Loy Ventura now when I was in my 70s and he in his 80s. But we are still thinking people. I know now that practicing retirement at 60 or 65 is a ridiculous theory. What settles in then is boredom with what you are doing and a need for change. I quit my job when I was 57 because I was bored with it.

Anyway, now I ask you, if you have a legal problem you can’t find a solution to, and need to talk to someone about it — please call Loy Ventura at 0917-823-5698. He will meet with you and give you free legal advice. Advice is what is free. If you need to go to court, you may have to pay for that.

But remember, my husband is an excellent lawyer. He will not take your case unless it is difficult, hopeless, impossible. That’s the kind of man he is. That’s why he married me. I am difficult, hopeless, impossible.

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Please text your comments to 0998-991-2287 or call Loy at 0917-823-5698.