Five years ago, Jun asked his wife to apply a loan for a business venture, which according to his studies would bear so much profit.
He already had plans of spending the profit like giving a brand new personal computer to his eldest son who at that time was taking up an Electronics and Communications Engineering Course.
When the bank loan was not enough, he encouraged his wife to borrow more money from loan sharks at an exaggerated 10-20% monthly interest rate. He was so excited to fulfill his life’s dream of adding money to their coffers.
But then, everything just went wrong. The venture was a total wreck and Jun was left with bills to pay and loans which just skyrocketed!
The creditors were pounding at their doors, litigations were about to be filed. He asked for financial support, asking friends and relatives, but to no avail.
How his wife cried. There was no way for them to settle their debts. They lost face and those they planned to seek help were shying away even before they had the opportunity to discuss their predicament.
He lost all means of income, his wife’s salary was slashed and they had a hard time keeping up with the family’s minimal budget. Food became scarce, school allowances of their children were cut, and he even encouraged some of them to stay with their aunts for a free board and lodging.
If you experienced a period of your life when you feel there is no more hope, that’s what became to them! It seemed the world would crumble and worst, the creditors continued to stake them. God knows how Jun entertained the idea of committing suicide.
It was the worst crisis in their marriage. He was really afraid their marriage would end.
How wrong he was! During this critical period of their marriage, their children supported them. Jun never heard them blaming him; in fact, they told him that the crisis will just pass. They helped lessen expenses, ate whatever food were prepared and they never raised a complaint. And his wife? She avoided discussing his mistakes for she knew it will just start a never ending fight and discussion.
Looking back at those times ,Jun tried to understand why his family supported him. He knew that in other marriages, that crisis would have already ended many happy years of living together. He asked his children why they didn’t blame and hated him. And from their answers he learned one of the secrets of a happy marriage: ask forgiveness.
Jun told his family how sorry he was was of putting them to shame and deflating the family’s coffers. He told them he was so sorry for cutting their allowances, that they had to stay with their relatives. He told his eldest son that he was so sorry for not buying him the personal computer, which he promised. And because of his honesty, they understood everything and put their backs behind Jun.
Asking them for forgiveness brought another positive reaction, they avoiding blaming him and never relived those past mistakes.
Their lasting marriage has been sustained because he knew how to ask forgiveness, and his family in return never discussed the mistakes of his past.