LITMIR.BIZ

      Many of you have probably read the romantic fairy tale Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin about a dreamy, kind-hearted girl named Assol, who believed in miracles and waited for her prince. This is a heart-touching story with happy ending about pure, sublime love and an unshakable belief. “Dreams come true, even the impossible ones” is the motto of the book. No wonder they say, “The one who knows how to wait always gets the best.” When I first researched the life of Mercedes Barcha, the wife of the iconic writer Gabriel Garcia Márquez, the image of Assol involuntarily popped into my head. And do you know why? The beloved woman and muse of the literary genius patiently waited for her fiancé for 13 long years! She was the personification of wisdom, dedication, patience, faith, and love. Their entire life can be summed up in a few words: “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and obey, till death do us part.”

      Gabriel Garcia Márquez was a Nobel Prize winner and one of the best-known Latin American writers in history who became a classic during his lifetime. His legendary novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is rightfully considered a real phenomenon and an unsurpassed masterpiece of world literature. The iconic writer was born on March 6, 1927, in the Colombian river town of Aracataca. Gabo, as he was affectionately known by his family and friends, was the oldest of 12 children born to his parents. The would-be writer spent his early childhood living with his maternal grandparents, who put their heart and soul into raising him and actually replaced his parents. Both were excellent storytellers. The most important person in Gabo’s life was his grandfather, a retired colonel and well-respected veteran of the Thousand Days’ War. He used to tell the young boy about his experiences during the war. Later, Márquez described his grandfather as “his umbilical cord with history and reality.” His grandmother was a superstitious woman with a rich imagination who believed in the supernatural and used to tell her grandson folk tales and ghost stories. It’s not hard to figure out that his grandparents were the main source of his literary inspiration. When Gabo was 7 years old, his beloved grandfather died, and he had to move back in with his parents, who lived in Sucre. Shortly after, he went to college, where he started writing humorous verses. Gabo was an honour student, and in 1940, he earned a scholarship to study at a prestigious Jesuit secondary school. As time passed by, he decided to pursue higher education. At his family’s insistence, Márquez first studied law but soon dropped out of the university to focus on his journalistic career.

      Mercedes Barcha was born on November 6, 1932, in Magangué, Colombia, in a well-to-do family. She was the oldest of seven children to her parents. Her father, an Egyptian immigrant, owned a pharmacy, and her mother was a homemaker. Mercedes was a mixed-race girl of an extraordinarily charming beauty: her big brown eyes, high cheekbones, and lustrous brown shoulder-length hair were legendary. Her exotic beauty could be compared to Nefertiti’s undeniable beauty.

      Gabo and Mercedes met in Sucre, the town where their families lived for several years and where they spent their vacations. Notably, their fathers were childhood friends. Love story of Márquez began when they met on the dance floor. The girl was only 13, and the writer was 18. According to other sources, they met for the first time four years earlier. As a pioneer of magical realism, Márquez always maintained an air of mystery and intrigue. I suppose that’s why his personal life was overgrown with legends and speculation, and it was difficult to distinguish reality from fiction. After all, the writer could tell the same story that happened to him differently, and his listener could get lost in the maze of his fantasies.

      Now back to the first meeting of the iconic writer and his wife-to-be. When young Gabo saw his Mrs. Right, he was struck by her unearthly beauty and decided to act immediately. “I just found out that all the verses I’ve written were dedicated to you. Be my wife!” he said. “I agree. But if you allow me, I will finish school first,” she replied. That’s how their lifetime romance began. Gabo and Mercedes were destined to be together. They found happiness and became two halves of a whole. They were absolutely different but complemented each other perfectly. Mercedes was reasonable, wise, calm, and practical, and Gabriel was temperamental, purposeful, dreamy, and eccentric. Their love was tested by time and distance. After all, it took 13 long years for them to finally get married. No wonder they say, “Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great.” Their bonding was stronger than steel. Whenever they were separated, the lovebirds constantly exchanged letters exploring each other’s inner world. Curiously, when the couple reunited, the writer asked Mercedes to destroy all those love letters, so they wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. All this time, the girl remained faithful to him and waited patiently and quietly, without a shadow of a doubt and strain. She ignored rumors surrounding her would-be husband and rejected her suitors’ advances. Many believed Mercedes was unworldly, and she was sometimes ridiculed behind her back. People gossiped that the young girl was wasting the best years of her life waiting for someone who would never marry her. However, Mercedes didn’t care what other people said. Somewhere deep inside, she knew that she was destined to spend a lifetime together with Gabo and that their love was mutual. In my view, that’s how a strong, confident, and wise woman is supposed to behave. In 1958, the couple finally got married. It’s true what they say:

      If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.

      Márquez and Barcha were poor, but they loved each other and lived in harmony. As the famous saying goes, “With one’s beloved, even a hut is heaven.” Mercedes, accustomed to wealth and comfort, had no idea how to run the household. But there is nothing a woman cannot do. Overtime, she learned how to cook and manage the family budget. In my view, they are examples

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