LEAVING HOME

Many farewells happen at home when children leave their parents to pursue their dreams or start a new life with their new found love. Tina and Pipo who lives in a remote village till the soil and catch fish to feed their family of four Bongbong Empot Nene and Petra, Pipo has a piece of land he inherited from his parents while Tina has a small store. They send their children to the village elementary school and most of the villagers attend Sunday Mass to practice their beliefs. Pipo is a hardworking father who tries his best to provide for the family aside from rice farming he has an orchard planted with fruit trees like mangoes citrus fruits star apple jackfruit and avocadoes. He has planted vegetables in a corner of his orchard for home consumption and a pigpen and chicken coup to complete his food basic needs, Rice planting season takes place on rainy season while harvest time happens during summertime. Pipo has a storehouse to put his bountiful harvest, sacks of rice and bushels of fruits and vegetables. He let his children help him in his chores. The girls help their mother at the store stacking merchandise on the shelves. " There's too much work," said Bongbong when he noticed his friends are just playing basketball but they are youth who are out of school. These youth has no dreams to pursue no purpose or meaning of what real life is. Bongbong and Empot are obedient children and followed what their parents told them. Time has come for Bongbong and Empot to leave home to take a secondary school course to the provincial capital and come home on holidays and long summer school breaks, Pipo hired helpers in his farm. The last time Bungbong and Empot visited their parents is to study abroad having been chosen as scholars to pursue advanced learning in medicine and engineering. They bid farewell to their parents at the airport only a parting hug and goodbye kiss. Tina and Pipo has no idea where their children are going. They are wishing them well and hope that they will be successful in their careers. How proud are their teachers the church and the whole village to know about their trip. Everyone knows how much sacrifice Pipo and Tina did to let their children continue their studies. Many times they struggled to bargain the price of their agricultural products to meet the school expenses of their children Sometimes life is like playing a game that you can win or lose. Their children Bongbong and Empot didn't fail their parents wishes to finish their studies but they reach more than that to bring home some honor too. Bongbong specialize in cancer care a very invasive kind of disease that affects humans young and old. He wants to study the early signs and detect the early stage of the disease to prevent its spread of the affected area inside the body, He participated in laboratory tests to find out the latest medicine to cure cancer. Empot pursues Civil Engineering to build roads bridges railroads and highways to cut travel time and help people see the world on tour. In modern times long bridges are constructed to connect islands and railroads traversing mountains and valleys to show the beautiful scenery to tourist passengers. When Bongbong graduated he didn't come home but he started to work in the hospital sending money home to help his parents with the school expenses of his sisters. Nene took Nursing as instructed by his brother Bongbong. After passing the board exam for nurses she went home to visit her parents and introduce her boyfriend ro them a medical doctor in the hospital. Pipo and Tina don't expect Nene to live with them anymore by having a boyfriend they will be having a family of their own. Empot came home for vacation only to find out that his parents are getting old. Petra the youngest in the family has graduated as a teacher, She wants to take her graduate studies under a scholarship grant , She didn;'t expect to meet a professor who propose to her after her graduation. She opted to teach as a college professor. In the village people are wondering what is the price of success when children leave their home to pursue their dreams? In modern society the norm of close knit families is broken separating them by far distance to live their dreams. Bongbong met her dream love in the same hospital where he is working and they decide to live together. After buying a house and settling there for sometime they invited Pipo and Tina to visit them. They are able to get a multiple entry visa with complete support of Bongbong and his wife. The winter climate takes a toll to both Pipo and Tina who are not acclimatize with the winter blues. They can't go out on their own without a driver or going out shopping by themselves. Most of the time they eat in the restaurant so they feel lonely being by themselves and they missed the fresh vegetables from their garden. Bongbong cant persuade them to stay when they insisted to go home. The villagers miss them too since they close the store while they are away. Their helpers didn't continue their poultry and swine without the supervision of Pipo and Tina. Empot working in Australia suggested to his brothers and sisters to plan for a family reunion to visit their parents. They all agreed to be together as a family. In the past families stay together in one place to support each other of any emergency that happens to the family especially when someone gets sick. Empot remembers very well when his father used home remedies to reduce high body temperature opening the body of a chick to absorb heat placing them in the armpits. with boiled guava leaves he used the filtered water for bathing In modern times the easiest way is to swallow a pill but people doesn't know that the consequence is a weakened immune system. Life is complicated even the family structure has changed. In the past the children takes care of their parents when they get old . Gone are the days when three generations live in one house. When will the family live as one unit of society like before? Children don't know their uncles aunts nephews nieces grandparents and relatives parents being too busy with work having chosen the rat race to survive. If man go back to God the possibility is to live a simple life as God provides the daily needs consume only the daily needs and the extra of that can be shared or saved, Pipo and Tina are blessed to have live in abundance but there is no substitute of a family love. When will the family be restored as before? It is a joyous family reunion for Pipo and Tina when they saw their grandchildren from each of their children. Will their meeting stay in their hearts? Will they really know them? At the celebration as they gathered around the table the guest grandchildren acted strangely to their parents relatives. They seem like telling them hello and goodbye.GP