November 7, 2018

Second Entry — I wanted to know the childhood of my dad

Hari ini postingan untuk entri kedua saya bagi Dear Reader Contest 2018.

Sekali lagi, semoga menjadi berkat, dan mohon maaf untuk bahasa Inggris yang sederhana karena masih terus belajar. 


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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