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How far would you go in the name of love?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 @ 10:30 AM

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For those attached, have you ever wondered about this question?
For the singles, have you imagined it?

"The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks has forced me to think about this question. A definite page-turner, i couldn't help but read through the last 80 pages in one sitting! haha...

It all started with these two neighbours and they spent a weekend together, riding a motorcycle down the streets, parasailing (parachuting pulled by a sailboat) and walking their dogs together. it only took them 3 days to fall deeply in love and realised they were destined to be soulmates for life.

This story spanned over eleven years, from 1996 to 2007. The female lead character, Gabby, was initially attached to a guy. The story in 1996 ended with the line "she knew what to do".

Part Two of the story started in June 2007: Gabby eventually married Travis (the male lead, aka her neighbour) and they had 2 daughters, in 1st and 3rd grade. Sparks had a way of making his readers guess what exactly happened to Gabby, with his misleading yet true words..

At first, I thought that Gabby had divorced Travis but all this seemed so impossible for they were so deeply in love and they complemented each other in every way. Only then did Sparks revealed, bit by bit, that Gabby is in a coma.

Travis and Gabby got into an accident when Travis was speeding on a rainy night, in a bid to rush home earlier so that they could sleep more and wake up fresh to prepare for work the next morning. But Gabby never woke up the next morning anymore.....

Travis woke up with a mangled arm in bandage and his wife was in a coma. Somehow, Gabby seemed to have known that she would go into a coma because she once told Travis that if she were in a coma, she wants Travis to remove the feeding tubes from her after 3 months. She didn't want Travis and the girls (her daughters) to suffer because of her. She stated this explicitly in her living will.

3 months came and went by. It was time for Travis to decide if he was going to show Gabby's living will to the doctors, allow them to remove the feeding tubes and see Gabby slowly starve to death. This was THE CHOICE. If you were Travis, what would you do?

At this time, i paused and thought in his shoes. If i was the one lying there, i would want to end my own life and shorten the misery for all. If i was Travis, I would not show the living will and hang on to the glimmer of hope that Gabby may wake up one day. I cannot imagine life without my loved ones. it's all too painful to take in.

Well, Travis made the same decision as I. Gabby had to be moved to a nursing home because the hospital's running out of space and coma patients who did not wake up by 3 months had to be shifted to a nursing home.

Months went by and Travis tried to lead a normal life, returning to his veterinarian job. Until one day, he received an urgent call from the nursing home. Sparks only mentioned the owner of the home said two words and asked Travis to rush down to the home.

Until here, you must be wondering what exactly are the "Two Words". Many words raced through my mind. If you really want to know, read the book! haha.. it will tell you the answer..

Sparks has a way of keeping you reading till the end. In every book, I seek a lesson to be learnt from the story. The book only gave me closure when I saw the two words. The climax of the story comes towards the end, bringing you much anticipation and excitement.

Lesson learnt: love is not to be taken for granted. It's only during the crucial times that you can see how strong your love for him/her is. Faced with the toughest decision, we simply have to follow our heart.

I hope you will enjoy this story as much I did.

To stan: I love you