Ang Kahapon Ngayon At Bukas Ni Beng
My friend Bok tagged me yesterday morning. Without knowing what would be the topic…I simply answered yes. I was shocked as I went to her site to see the details, wow…it’s all about PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. This means I will revealing the entire story of my life. Afraid? Nee, but I was hesitant to do it at first. I am well aware that this topic is too personal but what the heck. Lahat naman tayo ay may kuwento sa buhay…so why not share it?
Dalawang taon na ang nakalipas magmula ng dumating ako dito sa Alemanya. Dalawang taon na ring nagtiis sa lungkot dahil napalayo sa mahal na pamilya. Nangangapa pa rin sa paligid na parang isang bulag dahil nanibago sa kultura, salita, pagkain, panahon, ugali ng mga tao at iba pang bagay. Pero ganun lang talaga kapag nangingibang bansa. At isa pa, kapasiyahan kong mag-asawa ng banyaga kaya kinailangan kong harapin at gampanan ang bagong bahagi ng aking buhay.
Maraming mga pangyayari ang naganap sa taon na ito. Bukod sa nakapag adjust na, tapos na rin ako sa pag-aaral ng salitang Aleman (learning the language is a must since majority of the people don’t speak english). May german driving license na rin kaya nagkaroon ako ng lakas loob na pumasok ng trabaho. Natanggap ako bilang tagapagtuos o tagaayos ng kuwenta sa isang malaking department store na nagngalang “Weissenberger”. At natupad na rin ang pangarap ng dati kong asawa na makabili ng sariling barko for inland shipping (Binnenschiff).Habang ako ay abala sa trabaho at pamilya, hindi ko na gaanong naramdaman ang lungkot o homesick. Wala pang internet noon kaya nagsulatan lang kami ng aking mga magulang at kapatid. Tawagan sa telepono paminsan-minsan kong may importanteng bagay na dapat kaagad pag-usapan.
Ika 23 ng Oktobre, madaling araw ng ako ay magising dahil sa ring ng telepono. Ang kapatid kong babae na nasa Pilipinas ang tumawag para ipa-alam sa akin na nagkaroon ng massive heart attack ang aming ama. At siya’y malubhang isinugod sa hospital. Para akong tinamaan ng kidlat ng marinig ang balitang yon. Kulang na lang na hilain ko ang araw para maging umaga na. Kahit walang gana, walang tulog at maga ang mga mata, pinilit ko pa ring pumasok sa trabaho upang mag file ng bakasyon. Sa awa ng Diyos pinayagan ako ng boss at pina-uwi ako bago mag lunch break. I have to mention na ayaw ng dati kong asawa noon na umuwi. He said: Denkst du dein Vater wird es ueberleben wenn du dort bist? So ein bloedsinn! (Do you think your father will survive when you are there? What a nonesense!). Shit siya!To make the story short, I arrived home and my father was still confined in the ICU. He gained his consciousness again but very weak to speak. My father…my mentor that I adore, looked so pale and fragile. His eyes were closed as I sat beside him, I took his hand and it wake him up, he saw me and he cried. God is good, God is great that’s all I can say. The rest of the story is self explanatory.
My little wonder Kathleen turned 2 and Ivan 13. This time I had to choose between my children and my job. I wanted to get an Au pair girl but my ex-husband declined, so I resigned. The decision was not bad at all because it turned out useful as my marriage went to a crash course.
because I know that somewhere along the way, there’s a chance waiting for me. And so it happens! I found a fulltime job and I managed to enrol Kathleen in a Kindergarten near the apartment we lived. Everything went perfectly well until…
New Year’s Eve. The three of us were separated on this day. Kathleen was picked up by her father, Ivan left home early in the evening to celebrate the Millennium event with his classmates and friends. Not knowing what will happen next, I decided to accept my friend’s invitation to celebrate with her family. My cellphone rung shortly after midnight. A guy said on the other line: Please come to the hospital immediately, your son had an accident…his condition is “critical”. I thought it was just a bad joke…but of course it was not. I quoted critical because I found out later that he was clinically dead as he arrived in the hospital. The doctors were fighting for his life along the corridor on the way to intensive care unit. A young boy with a strong heart came back to life…He was very lucky that the hospital was just few meters away from where the accident happened. What really happened? An unknown person fired a gas pistol in the middle of the crowd. It landed and blasted right in front of my son. I think I don’t have to describe how I felt and how it felt. It simply can not be explained by words…
Thursday, June 21, 2000. I met Gerd, my now hubby on this day for the first time in person. Oh no please don’t get me wrong, he’s not a total stranger at all. We met on the net for months already, but due to our distance, job and tight schedules, our communication was limited to emails and phone calls only. Kaya ito ang pinakauna-unahang date naming dalawa. We dined out and after that…took a long walk along the Main River. Then we sat on a park bench and talked about our past life and experiences. Para kaming tunay na magnobyo na may pa holding hands pa. Para pa lang dahil hindi ko pa naman siya sinagot ah. It was already late as we parted. The next day was a holiday so he decided to stay in the area. Kaya nag-usap kaming magkita ulit kinabukasan.
An unexpected thing happened the next day. Siya ay hindi na nag-aksaya ng panahon. He proposed marriage on bended knees with a beautiful bouquet on his right hand. God! I was stunned and speechless. Our engagement took place on July 1st. We had a romantic, solemn engagement ceremony in Engelsberg Chapel on top of the hill.
August 19, we finally moved to Freiburg. Hindi ako tinigilan ni Gerd hanggang hindi ako pumayag na magsama na kaming dalawa. Dito nagsimula ang panibagong kabanata ng aking buhay.Then came September 10 “it was Kathleen”s first day at school with a Schultuete filled with sweets and an empty school backpack “Scout”. It was a weird situation for me because my ex-hubby was there and my step-daughter as well. But it was Kathleen’s big day, so I had to endure it for her sake.
Gerd and I are almost 2 years married na this time and I had a very promising job in Roemerberg Klinik, Badenweiler. Promising dahil government establishment ito and I was paid under BAT Tarif (Beamtentarif – Government Official Tariff) plus bonuses. Everything was perfect but Gerd still has one unfulfilled wish. A baby. I would love to have one too but how? We both know that I have problem with my fallopian tubes due to Endometriosis, as in fact I had one ectopic pregnancy behind me several years ago. But my darling Gerd has already one answer in mind. IVF! We took the risk and saw the positive result after three crucial months. The ultrasound monitor showed a dark spot…that is now known as Gillian-Yves. All our wishes and dreams came true…there is nothing more we can ask for.
Ivan experienced his first heartache. Gillian turned 1 and Kathleen got excellent grades thus she made it to Gymnasium. During the school year…she won several light athletic disciplines and won the first prize in drawing contest. Papa Gerd was busy with his patients and Mama Beng was getting obsessed in web designing. And we got a new family member…Kitty.
And finally at 2:30 A.M I went to bed with a contented smile. Know why? I successfully moved all my hostee’s blogger files including the comments.
I’m suppose to go to Kathleen’s school to pick up the books we ordered for her. But decided to postpone it tomorrow dahil inabot ako ng high tide ng katamaran. I cleaned the house instead and washed all our dirty clothes.
Have to call the land developer in Davao early in the morning. Then go pick up Kathleen’s books and have to go back home right away to finish some pending work.
P.S
Grammatical error is under your care bcoz I am not a perfect writer nor perfect in English. But at least I tried…di vah 