There were only the four of us joining the trip to Sukabumi, a small town, 113 km south of Jakarta. It's a visit to a senior citizen's home there to meet a former teacher.
She was around her late fifties the last time we met. I remembered we almost had a teacher strike in 2000 and she was one of so many who were against it. I visited her house once after she had a terrible stroke in 2002 (if I'm not mistaken) and she had problems since every movement was not automatically driven by the brain. She'd literally talk to herself to move. Since my mom was a stroke patient herself, my friend had called her from time to time.
After a three hour drive and a big shock because we nearly hit a stopping public transportation, we found the tranquil place. It's so peaceful, almost like a house for the local landlord in a small plantation. There were no other visitor's cars and we could only hear the wheels gliding on the arranged flat rocks in the front yard.
One of us filled in the guestbook and continued exploring through the corridor where there's a big board with names, birthdays, names of family and addresses. Her name was there, Tinasari Taswin, 10 of August, 1944, 7 of December 2006. Yesterday was her birthday, I said to myself.
I was told that the decision to put her here was after they found her lying on her back on her house floor after two days. TWO DAYS. She's not married and she lived alone in that house. It's no wonder no one knew what's going on when she did not reply to the phone calls. The neighbors and her relative broke the door after they called for the ketua RT and were beginning to worry.
After reading the board, then we entered a small and dark auditorium with some worn couches accompanied by a 20 inch tv with some viewers on their wheelchairs in the right corner. Around 20 plastic chairs were stacked on the middle left of the room and apparently a small prayer corner with a picture of Isa, a rosary, a small table, a cross with two palm leaves and five plastic chairs neatly lined up on the front both sides of the table. When we passed the door, we were greeted by small garden and a line of doors. Two plastic chairs were next to each door.
Then one of us saw and recognized her. She was sitting on one of the chairs in front of, what I assumed, her room. We greeted and kissed. My eyes were full of water, but none fell to my cheeks. I dunno how I felt exactly at that time. Was it sadness? Pity? Compassion? I really dunno.
I noticed she wore the shirt backwards. She made a gesture to shake my hand. I shook hers and kissed her already, so I wasn't sure whether I must do the same thing again. But I did. Didn't think too much because I was too excited to see her.
We mentioned some teachers' names and she said she recalled the names but not the faces. She remembered our branch manager's status and asked us to help him find a soulmate. Later that afternoon, I called him and put him on the speakerphone so he could have a chat with her. When I hang up, she asked,"How many children does he have?". The question held us a back a little. I started to think about her memory loss then I remembered that my mom used to have the same syndrome. These people can remember things that happened ten years ago but they could simply forget yesterday's event. The thought made me really sad and at a point of the conversation I just stayed quiet.
Then it was time to have lunch. A bell was rung to let everybody know it's lunch time. At first she didn't wat to have it. She told the nun that she's not hungry. We persuaded her to have her lunch, she finally said 'yes'.
All occupants came to the dining room, which is in front of our friend's room, one by one. Everybody walked quietly. It seemed they were 'programmed'. Nobody looked left or right, nobody smiled. They walked with approximately the same pace and the same gesture, eyes looking up front and body forwarding a little bit. Some came with wheelchairs with the nuns. Everybody seemed to have their own usual seat.
Then, the prayer began. The eating was quiet, too. Only the sounds of spoons and forks hitting the melamine and plastic plates were heard. No gigling, no chatting, no interaction. I saw them from the outside of the room and was thinking.... are they 'tired' people?
There was something else... During the lunch, we had time to look around and as a flower and garden freak, I took time to observe some plants and noticed not everbody ate in the dining room. Some were on the wheelchairs and nannies spooned food to them. Two occupants' hands were chained.... I know the people in the home thought of the best things for these people. They are not my grandma or my grandpa, I know that too. But I was sad, beyond sad. It's hard to play a strong girl role then, so I quickly moved away before another flow of water filled my eyes.
We had more conversation after lunch. I wondered what she'd do after we were gone.
After 2.5 hours, we finally said our goodbyes. She said 'thank you' so many times. Her face started to become red. I made my goodbye quick because I knew she's going to cry again. Quietly, I said my prayer when I kissed her cheeks. I asked God to protect her from harm and let her live in peace surrounded by people who love her. I do hope she could find peace there.
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