Sekali lagi, semoga menjadi berkat, dan mohon maaf untuk bahasa Inggris yang sederhana karena masih terus belajar.
***
I wanted to know the childhood of my
dad.
Was he like me?—That is having a look
that seems so serious even still as a child. Did his dad, my grandad, whom I
never got the chance to see and know, treat him the way he used to discipline
and spend time with me when I was a child? Did he have a happy childhood life
and memorable moments?
That is why I tried to reach out to him
to find out more. And as usual, each time I got him on the phone, he always
gave the phone to mom—or someone else next to him such as my sisters Grace and
Agnes, or my brother Atlanta—after talking for a minute, which seems that dad
still has not much ability to really express his feelings.
"How's your relationship with grandpa,
Dad...?" I asked him after telling mom to give back the phone to dad and
several chitchats.
He said, "Well... nothing so
special. He used to told me bedtime stories about the lives of many people. He
lived during the Japanese occupation era in Indonesia (1942 – 1945), and one
day he saved the life of a Chinese merchant from being killed by Japanese
soldiers."
"Bulang (a Batak Karonese language
for Grandpa) had to struggle in his life at that time," Dad concluded.
"Did you happy as a child,
Dad...?" I asked him with a bit of timidity.
"Well..." Dad said, "I
also had to struggle back then in the village (Singa Village in North Sumatera)
when I was a child. And I just still particularly remember those times when Dad
and Mom shared those bedtime stories."
Anyway, my dad is 65 years old right
now, living with mom in Medan City, North Sumatera. They decided last year in
2017 to move there from Surabaya City so that dad, especially, could live near
his mother, my grandma who is already 101 years of age! Dad has six siblings
actually, and he is the fourth child, with four sisters & two brothers. Two
of his sisters (number one and three) have passed away though.
And finally, I asked him whether he had
any memorable moment as a child—just like the one that I have with them when
they took me to a beach called Boom Beach in Tuban, East Java, where we played
together there with a little green water pistol in my hand.
"Well… I used to walk to go to
school, Lao Simomo Elementary which was about two to three miles from home
every day. And I had to cross a river, and when finally arrived at school, my
uniform got dirty with mud. And each time the school ends, I swam in that river
along with friends. I was 3rd grade that time."
One more thing, dad used to say to me
that I still have a long way to go in life. I'm thankful for his example in
keeping on pushing.
I'm also thankful for that brief moment,
talking with dad through the mobilephone. I believe there are still many things
I don't know yet about him, and I'd really love to know. Because honestly,
indeed there were times that I did not want to be like him, my dad, because of
what he has or hasn't done. But as time moves forward, I realize that I DO want
to be like him. Just because of who he is. And I hope that my children, Cherish
and Jhesua, want to be like me too, their dad. Or even like their grandad. My
dad.
 |
| image courtesy of billygraham.org |