Just this morning while I was carrying Julia, I made a comment to Henry that I’m ready to go to work. And at that instance Julia’s hug tightened around my neck and refuses to let go of me. She says “sama office” and reminds me to take my bag. She lets go of me for a shortwhile, says “Iya bag”, walks over to her toy box and carries her small bag. She then goes back to me and asks me to carry her saying “sama”! It was such a touching and funny moment that when I was already here in the office I remembered it over and over again.
I saw a parallel movie about a mother leaving her family for good, her daughter, about 5 years old, grabs her teddy and toothbrush and runs after her mother. When she got out of the house, she saw her mother’s car speeding away and she runs after it crying… It was such a hearbreaker. I know I cried while watching that scene.
I know and Julia knows that I will be back tonight. But thinking about her concept of time, a whole day must be agonizingly long. When night falls, they say she kept on repeating my name, watching for the door to open. They will entertain her for a while but she will go back to watching the window and the door waiting for me to come home.
