I found an old diary while putting clutter in a
storage box. This is the entry from 37 years ago, and because of the date…I thought I would put it in my blog.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1982
She is the apple of my eye…my firstborn, my pride, and, like
every other stubborn child – a cause of momentary stress.
She and my wife came to follow me in Saudi Arabia after her
second birthday, the third of which was celebrated with an international guest of children – Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, Egyptians, and Palestinians.
Despite her small frame, she is unquestionably cute,
outgoing, and unafraid – a display of adventurism at an earlier age.
She
learned household chores at an earlier age because she had no playmate but her mom. My wife assigned her the task of turning off the range when the rice had
boiled.
“Anak,
huwag ka muna magulo at kumokulo ang tiyan ko.” (Child, please stop bothering
me for a while. My abdomen is bubbling.”
“Patayin
mo na mommy.” (turn it off, mommy) she replied innocently.
She
could read all the letters of the alphabet, but writing was initially difficult because her motor coordination was not yet fully developed. She would scribble unintelligible
lines on a piece of paper.
“Daddy,
daddy,” she would excitedly yelp, “O” or “Daddy! “N,” and she would rock excitedly.
Learning
to write such letters as O, F, and T is nothing surprising, but learning to write
“H”
while
finding it hard to write “N” and learning to write “R” while unable to write “P”
is puzzling.
She
memorized the alphabet so perfectly that she could recognize a letter in any position except for one setback—I said it was a double U (W), and she insisted it was an inverted “M.” This led the two of us to argue until I had to postpone the session, or we would end up quarreling and she crying, which is very discomforting.
This
is “S.” I was holding her hand, scribbling the letter “S,” which is easy to
remember because it looks like a snake. It’s like a worm, I said.
“Daddy,
lagyan mo ng tubig,” (Daddy, put water beneath it), so I scribbled lines
beneath the letter “S” without understanding what she was trying to say.
“Tingnan
mo daddy, bebe – hindi ahas at hindi bulate.” (Look, daddy; it’s a duck, neither
a snake nor a worm). Her sense of association is stunningly intelligent.
“Aray,
ang sakit, nakakita ako ng stars” her mom moaned as she was accidentally hit by
her with her toy. (Arg! That was hard…I saw stars from the impact)
“E
moon mommy, wala?” (How about the moon, Mommy…there is none?)
She
could sometimes be emotionally sentimental, cry at will, or suddenly fall silent when she heard sad songs at home or inside our car.
I was about to leave for work when she insisted on coming with me. She cried and would only stop if I gave her money, but she would only accept coins. My wife made signs for me to go into the other room, where she kept her treasure box full of coins, so I did.
As
soon as I left the room, she stopped crying and turned to her mom – “Talagang
tanga ang daddy, ano?” (Daddy is easily fooled, isn’t it?) and giggled, only to
resume crying as soon as I reentered the room.
She
had a quarrel with her mom one night. She cried, and nothing could pacify her. The generator was switched off, so we were virtually in the dark with the kerosene lamp and candlelight. I threatened to lock her in the dark if she wouldn’t stop. At 4:00 a.m., I woke up from her sobbing. I was getting worried about why she cried that long.
“Norayda,
please. I couldn’t sleep,” I said, and I got the flashlight. She was climbing down from the bed when I flashed the light on.
“Where
are you going?” I asked.
“Sa
kabilang kuwarto ako tutulog para hindi ko kayo gugulo.” (I will sleep in the
other room so I won’t disturb you).
She
broke my heart into pieces with those remarks upon which I walked around the bed,
and reached out to her. She put her arms around my neck afraid that I will slap
her.
“Bakit
anak, umaga na umiiyak ka pa?” (Child, why are you still crying? It’s almost
morning.)
“Kaseh
daddy, sumasakit nanaman ang ipin ko.” (Because dad, it’s my toothache again.)
Bakit
hindi mo sinabi? (Why didn’t you tell me?)
Kaseh…tutulog
ka na e! (Because you are already asleep)
I
opened the drawer where I kept meds for her toothache.
Two
months ago, while we were on vacation leave, she and I were sitting at the terrace
of our house.
“Daddy,
bakit ang tagal tagal ko lalaki? Iinip na ako. Gusto ko ng aral.” (Daddy, why
is it taking too long for me to grow up. I am feeling impatient. I want to go
to school)
And
when I left for Saudi Arabia alone so she and her mom can spend their 6 months
visa at home, my younger brother came for a visit.
“Bakit
ka umiiyak?” (Why are you crying?) my wife asked while she was sitting in the
corner sobbing.
“Kaseh
dumating pala daddy ko, hindi man lang ako halik.” (Because my dad came home
and he didn’t even kiss me.)
She
mistook my brother for me.’
I
made her a small cabinet where she can keep her toys but the top looks like a
table. While I was in the hospital, she said to her mom; “Ang daddy talaga
walang utak. Gumawa ng mesa wala naman upuan. Paano ko gagamitin?” (Daddy
really has no brain. She made for me a table but without a chair. How can I use
it?) I had to buy her a small table with a small chair.
When
she and her mom spent the night at the Nurse’s hostel; they would join the
bingo games with the nurses. They would let Norayda draw and read the numbers…and
sometimes, she would read the numbers from right to left. It would send the
nurses’ laughter to the roof specially when someone is waiting to Bingo with
such number like she would read “64” as “46.”
She
usually sleeps late and wake up late just in time for her mom to take a nap.
“Norayda,
please be quiet while you play. I need to take a nap.”
“Bakit
mommy, hindi na nga kita gugulo kahit na gutom na gutom ako.” (Why mommy, I am
not bothering you even if feel very hungry.)
My
wife suddenly feeling guilty for forgetting her breakfast got out of bed and
prepare her breakfast.
She
developed special liking for the ABBA song “Chiquitita.” She wants it played
every night to make her sleep meaning I have to get up and rewind the cassette every
time until she sleeps. It was tiring for me until I thought of…yea, record the
same song in the whole 60 minutes cassette so we can both journey to dreamland at the sound of…ABBA.
