Saturday 25 July 2009

Perfect Saturday..

One note before I start writing.. even the term 'Perfect' is subject to some level of relativity..

A rainy Saturday is definitely not a perfect weekend if I was planning to do an outing, but, since I have been feeling very sleepy and tired since yesterday and keeping the thought of doing nothing at home today.. well, today turned out to be a perfect Saturday.. it has been raining since midday, not a big heavy rain, but a nice soft cooling down rain..

Ariq is also feeling a little tired today (Thursday and Friday were his first days at school and school had gone full-time). So, it was really orientation days for the both of us..

Aza, my 3 year-old son, on the other hand, has been very very 'up and running' today. He woke up at 7 and went straight to the backyard to water the trees and plants there. A bit later, he went to the front yard where my brother-in-law was washing the car, to joined in.. He finally needed a rest around midday when he curled up in his crib (his crib is custom-made 90cm x 160cm, which practically serves as his daytime bedroom and playpen).

I just finished my coffee while listening to the sound of the rain..

Just beautiful..

I hope all of you are having a beautiful weekend too..

Friday 24 July 2009

Where is My Spider?

After three weeks having no time to take a look around.. I finally had a little chance of saying 'hi' to the pretty spider in front of the car garage. Guess what?? I could only find her web and it was already in damaged condition! The web owner was nowhere to be seen and I don't know where she had moved.

Three weeks is not really that long, but it is definitely long enough for a spider to feel the need to move out and build a new web.

I hope I won't cross path with her unexpectedly (I am still afraid of spider in general). I would really like to see her again, though, and I hope she is well..

Thursday 23 July 2009

The Saddest School Holiday...

Ariq had school holiday (finishing KG to start Grade 1) for 3 weeks (yes, school holiday in Indonesia is very very short).. but this holiday was the saddest for him (I really wish he would never have to go through another holiday like this again)..

Ariq started his holiday mid June, shortly after his end of academic year performance, then, we were planning to stay in the Safari Park Caravan Camp for one night, but it turned out that everything happened very differently from what we planned.

At the night of our wedding anniversary (23rd of June), my husband and I cancelled our dinner plan since my father-in-law had to be taken to the hospital where his haematologist practiced. My husband, one of his auntie and my mother-in-law went with him.

Past midnight, that night, my husband called and told me that they were still in the hospital waiting room! (They left the house around 8.00 which most likely they reached the hospital at around 10.00) They were organising my father-in-law to be transferred to the hospital near home. He was transferred by an ambulance early that morning. My father-in-law was in very weak condition and was admitted straight in the ICU (intensive care unit). His condition on the next day was much better, but during the following two days, his condition was much worse, until finally on Saturday (27th of June), he passed away.

Ariq was the most affected by his grandfather's departure, as he was not allowed in the ICU being under 12 years old. As we laid my father-in-law's body at home waiting for the burial the next morning (Sunday), Ariq started to understand that his grandfather was never coming back at all. From Sunday to Tuesday, Ariq lost his appetite and almost didn't talk at all. I decided to take him away from our home and move to my parents' place for a few days.

In my parents' home Ariq started eating and talking again, but the things he talked about the most was how he wanted to be with his grandfather..

Once he was eating well again, I took him home (Sunday), and he asked my mother-in-law to go to the grave. They went there next morning (Monday). The next day, Ariq woke up with a high fever, and I gave him Panadol syrup to cool it down. The fever kept going up and down until the next day, so we took him to ER and the doctor gave an instruction for a blood test the next day. When we got the result of the blood test, the doctor said that Ariq needed to be hospitalised because there was a chance that he had Dengue Fever.

My mother-in-law still couldn't bear the thought of walking into the hospital near home where my father-in-law spent his last moments in, so we took Ariq to the hospital near my parents' home. On the 2nd day in the hospital (5th day of the fever), it was positive that Ariq had the Dengue Fever (fortunately not the strain D which was the most dangerous one).

I quietly cried everytime his fever ran high and he wouldn't stop asking about his grandfather.. why he couldn't be with him and what he could do to be with him..Holding back my tears while trying to give him confidence was not an easy thing to do..

He stayed at the hospital for 6 days, the 5th and 6th day he was almost fully recovered.. He was allowed to go home Thursday last week (2nd and last day of his school orientation program) but he needed to stay home until he had seen the doctor for post-hospitalisation check up, which was last Tuesday (first day of school).

Ariq's 3 weeks holiday was not the holiday he expected it to be, but he is back at school now (he just started going to school today), and when my husband and I quietly watched him from the window, he looked happy with his teachers and friends..

I don't know how to make it up to little kids when their losses are just too great, but I guess as time goes by and life goes on, children will gain understanding and grow wiser in life too..we can only pray and be there for them.. :-)

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Life goes on.. Even after the saddest moment..

The departure of a loved one always leaves a deep mark on our heart and soul.

My first experience was my grandfather (my mother's father), when I was 13.

My grandfather (my mother's father) used to do his Friday prayer at my school mosque. Somehow, after he had departed for several weeks, I completely forgot about him not being around anymore.

I sat on the lowest step of the mosque staircase from the time when the prayer ended (slightly after lunch), until about 3 pm. Then, it suddenly hit me that the person I was waiting for would never come out of the mosque, no matter how long I waited there..

I went home holding back my tears.. and when my worried mother (there was no mobile phones yet around that time) asked me why I was so late coming home from school. I lost my voice for a moment, before I choked while answering, "I was waiting for 'Eyang' (grandparent in Javanese language), until I finally remembered that he wasn't in the mosque.."

I could see my mother's eyes suddenly were glassy with tears, but she tried to hold back her tears to give me strength and she tried to smile as she hugged me tight, "Poor girl! It's alright.. Things like this happen to everyone. The most important thing is that you are safely home now."

Ah, I still miss my grandfather to this day.. and my memory of that day stays with me forever..