The Bad News

We were supposed to have a session this morning. I texted my student and got no reply. I thought it was strange that he didn't reply because he never delays his response nor his call.

So, I texted him again. This time he replied. It was already past midnight, two hours after my last text. His answer was short, "Miss, my father died last saturday so I still in my mourning period. May be we will have a class on Wednesday. Please pray for my father. Thank you."

I was surprised. We communicated last Wednesday and he didn't mention anything about his father's condition. The death was probably unexpected. Secondly, my student did not inform me the day his father died. Perhaps he is in shock. I feel so sorry for him.

I remember the first few sessions we had about two years ago. He told me stories about his family (in English, with his limited vocabulary and structure). His mother and father are the second generation of a big Chinese family from Mainland China. He told me that his grandma and grandpa were very old-fashioned Chineses. However old-fashioned the children were educated by them, they still welcomed plurality in the family.

My student's father was a Moslem, a very dedicated one. His mother is a person who believes in God but refuse to hold a specific religion. And my student? Well, he is a Catholic!!! Want to know something else that is unique about him? His appearance is definitely a Mongoloid (a.k.a Chinese) but he refuses to be called 'a Chinese'.

He once said that "Miss, my blood is red. I work here. I eat whatever we have here. am Indonesian. Betawinese to be exact!".

He joined the boyscout until he was in college. He used to spend time with the 'anak kampong' during Ramadhan, blowing up torches and firecrackers. On Sundays, he would be at church, becoming 'the altar boy'.

About his father, once he mentioned his concern that his father spent too much time with a very fanatic and revolusionary preacher. At that time, he wanted me to pray so that his father could find a better preacher who did not spread hatred to others, especially to people with different religion.

Yes, I'm sure he is very sad with his father's unexpected death. I am sad, too. I hope everybody in his family can be strong to take this painful ordeal.