there was this seminar at FGA held for parents of special children, so i helped out with taking care of the kids while the parents were in the other room attending the seminar. autism, hyperactivity, mental retardation, etc. the kids they look normal. they just, act different. but not that different even.
met this kid, Raj. he's around ten maybe, survived stroke. sweet kid, always smiling wide, loves to sing. he sang me this song, it was adorable. his brother, Seelan, is no less awesome. he's twelve and he takes care of his kid brother. his heart of gold really shines through with the way he handles Raj with patience and just love. his brother's shirt would come untuck and he would just help him put it back in place. his brother has this toy guitar and he would hold it for him whenever his brother would go off having something caught his attention. Seelan would just sit in one place, and Raj would come back to him in time intervals, as though he knew his brother would always be there.
i kept this chinese girl, Ann, company for most of the time. she turns 19 this august, she was abandoned when she was born and was adopted when she was four, by this indian lady, Jeba, whom she refers to as mama. throughout my time spent her she doesn't speak, referring to things in bouts of mumbles and sounds. Ann, she'd led me out of the room, so i accompanied her on a walk. i'd never had anyone hands clasped tight on mine so long before. from what i could see, Ann loved opening new doors. we'd barged in on a filipino worship group. and after getting tired of that room, she led me to yet another new door. while walking i just told her bits of life, a lot actually. at one point did she look me in the eye as though she'd understood. and, at that moment, it'd hit me how human we all were, and how we were all human.
after walking around in a place of which would be my second time round there (no i did not get lost. REALLY.) we ended up in this studio where a group was rehersing their music. Ann and i just sat there listening, her clapping her hands, me bopping my head to the beat. the rehersal finished and we'd to leave the room. she led me to the adjacent room with a/c and mats on the floor. she kicked off her shoes and just lay on her back on the mats. she was adamant on staying so i just lay next to her. she was staring at her hands up in front of her. after enjoying the consistent hum of the a/c, i spoke, 'so what's on your mind?'
and at that point she started crying. helpless as i was at what to do, i did what i could. i just held her hands. and i did what someone had done for me many times before. i just was, there. had she felt sorrow, i can say i know what that is. one of the marks the Maker had etched into our biological clipboards, along with joy, and everything else. sometimes, it's easy how you get lost in time, like you're on a plane totally seperate from everyone else's. like, it's you, your Maker, and that moment.
we'd been in that room longer than i thought. Jeba, Ann's mum, was looking for her and a team of people were out searching the entire building for us. of which one of the lady found us in that room. i apologised profusely to Jeba, sorry that i'd made her and everyone worry, and that i'd lost track of time. aware as i was at how pissed she could've been, i was relieved when she said it was okay. we made our way back and everything was, great. long day (:
running through life so fast that i'd forgotten not only where i was but also where i was heading; had i come to before the realisation that this life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way, and that i had been standing by the sidelines, watching what really mattered rush by like a subway train, an inch from my face, an inch from where i could have stepped into, taking me places
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