A lovestruck Texas has gone to the US-Mexico border every Valentine’s Day in hopes of reuniting with a woman he met 28 years ago.
Marine Corps vet Esteban Perez, also known as the ‘soldier of love,’ is known for standing in full uniform on a street corner in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, while holding flowers and waiting for Cecilia.
While the 59-year-old claimed that last year would be the last time he tried to reunite with Cecilia, local Mexican outlets have reported he was seen again on Wednesday fulfilling his yearly Valentine’s Day tradition.
Perez, who now lives in Laredo, Texas, reportedly met Cecilia at a nightclub in the border town in 1996.
He has previously said the two dated for a few months before Cecilia broke things up.
Marine Corps vet Esteban Perez, also known as the ‘soldier of love,’ is known for standing in full uniform on a street corner in Nuevo Laredo while holding flowers and waiting for Cecilia
It’s not clear why they separated but The Washington Post previously cited local reports that claim it had something to do with his military duties.
Because he did not know how to contact her or where she went, Perez started the Valentine’s Day tradition a few years after they separated.
‘I will only stop coming if she is married or she has children,’ Perez once said.
‘I have never married, don’t have children and I have never looked for another girl because I would never see in any other girl what I saw in Cecilia.’
Perez, who has never revealed Cecilia’s full name, has become known in Nuevo Loredo for his Valentine’s Day traditions.
But locals told Reuters they have mixed feelings about the gesture.
‘He looks very handsome in his suit,’ said one local last year. ‘She’s missing out.’
Another added: ‘Let him have some therapy… it’s been 25 years (sic).
‘It takes about six months to get over a bereavement. After that time we need an intervention.’