BOY Thought MOM Was Sleeping in Coffin – What He Said Will Bring You To TEARS.
Children are not supposed to be witnessing death, but unfortunately, they sometimes do. This tragic event can leave a huge scar in the psychological development of a young person. Even adults find it more than difficult to deal with grief, but at least many of the adults understand how passing away is part of living. Some children who are not mature enough to see the complexity of living can find it mentally reprehensible to be surrounded by such terrifying events, especially when they may feel left alone in the world. As much as we try to educate and protect our children from certain dangers, no one can really control the natural phenomena. These kids must be treated with great care and kindness and must have plenty of support in the aftermath of losing someone they trust. In such cases, they must be treated with great gentleness, for it is hard to dive into the psyche of a young person.
The municipality of Bontoc, located in the northern part of Luzon island, is known for its tradition in widespread fields suitable for rice farming. This region encompasses many kinds of living, including tribal traditions and culture. Sometimes it is quite difficult to come across proper information about tribes because not everyone can be part of it and see what is really going on. However, some people from such faraway places are willing to make the stories known. They understand the importance of spreading knowledge about such cultures and ways of survival. I was more than grateful to come across such information in today’s Manila newspaper.
The story was based on a picture sent to the editors of the newspaper by one of the island’s inhabitants, Maria Christina Santos. She, together with many of her kind, had experienced inexplicable things, and spreading such knowledge can make others aware of the precarious situation others are subjected to and motivate society to offer help and support. Maria was born into a huge family; she had around thirteen siblings, much more than a dozen uncles and aunts, and several cousins spread around the island of Luzon. One day, she sent a picture to the press, and the reporters from the newspaper traveled all the way to talk to her personally and find out the details about the reason why she felt like reaching out. She needed help, and she was willing to involve the whole country and bring awareness to people about her story.
She started telling them her life story. She told them that where she came from, it was normal to give birth to at least five to six children, and there are so many it may be impossible to keep track of where everyone goes and to still be involved in their lives. After they decided to leave their home, some children grow up and grow old in the same house in the same place, while others migrate like birds from island to island, and when they do so, gone they are. Maria and her sister had always been those people changing places. They had always been curious about what kinds of living life had to offer them in more different places. They were both born in a tribe, never having met their real father. Their mother was always busy with the farming, cooking, and taking care of other brothers they had. So, apart from the biological bond, they felt no other deeper connection. There was not much keeping them in place, so one day they decided to leave the tribe and discover new places and learn about how other people were dealing with life.
Maria was a very talented sculptor, while her sister, Gabriella, was a passionate singer. So, they moved from place to place doing their craft, and people hosted them both with great pleasure. These kinds of activities are well-searched for in the regions; everyone is in search of new bowls, cups, or decorations for their houses, and a little bit of around-the-fire entertainment never hurts anyone. They had been a great duo, and with their kind and loving attitude, they had made themselves known to many people. They both had great respect for each other and were both aware that without one another, they would never have managed their way into the world in this beautiful manner. They represented the most important person for one another, and they called themselves the ribbon. Their plan was to never give birth to children; they wanted to be free. Sometimes they wondered whether it would be a good idea for them to travel to bigger cities and try their luck with a greater audience. They felt how their work was of great finesse and quality, not to mention their divine ability to adapt to any sort of person. They were both “people people.”
After a couple of years of wandering around, Gabriella, the singer, was more than certain that her future was bright, and she wanted to extend her skills by traveling to the city and finding herself a nice jazz band to jam with. Maria eventually agreed to this plan, and they were telling themselves, “Three more villages and then we go.” They selected their route so that the last three villages were in their direction toward Manila. Their plan was to get as widely known in every place they would reach before reaching Manila. They were thinking that maybe someone could already tell them a place to go and where to start. Gabriella was hoping some people would even follow them to the capital to be more entertained by her music. Maria’s expectations were that she might find on the road some people willing to buy some of the pots she was carrying so they could make some money for their own. They were so sure of each other that the whole complexity of this plan had no fear for them. They were just enjoying everything that life had to offer.
They eventually arrived in the village of La Trinidad, close to Baguio City. Every time they would come to a new place where no one recommended them before, they just knocked on people’s doors and asked to entertain them with their kind humor with some songs and asked whether they needed some new work done. The first door they knocked on was a revelation, something unfamiliar to Gabriella. She found romantic love for the first time in her life. The man who opened the door seemed to her as if from a dream; she could see right through him as if she instantly connected to his soul. Maria was a little confused because she had never seen her sister in such a dreamy state while trying to get a gig, but she rapidly understood the situation and took over the talking. The man was himself a lover of life and art and heartwarmingly received the two in his home. Maria explained how they had been on the road their whole life almost and how much joy and pleasure it brought them to see the smiles on people’s faces after encountering contact with them and showing them their artistic skills.
The man, Eduardo, was extremely polite and provided one of the best hospitalities they had ever had the chance to come across. He was living in a big house together with his four brothers and some of their wives. The two artist sisters received a comfortable room on the last floor of the house. After walking up the stairs, Gabriella confessed to her sister, “I think I’m in love for the first time. I’m not sure what this guy does to me, but just looking at him I feel I’m losing my mind.” Even though Maria was happy for this new feeling her sister was having, she sensed how it could jeopardize their original plan. Their strategy had always been to never spend more than a night in one house exactly so they never got too comfortable in someone else’s presence and ended up not pulling through with their journey. So, Maria suggested they spend the night, do their job, and see how they would feel in the morning.
The evening had come, and the moment arose for Gabriella to sing for Eduardo, his brothers, and the rest of his friends he had spontaneously invited to this event. He had even invited a jazz band from the city to accompany her on the little stage they had built. Maria was surprised to see the burning passion and love in her sister’s voice and attitude while singing. She knew her sister loved what she was doing and always did it with great passion, but this time it was so much more than she was used to. It was one of the best performances in her sister’s life. After the concert, all the guests, including the two sisters, stayed up all night dancing around the fire until the sun came up. After Maria had decided to get some rest, Eduardo invited Gabriella to the fields nearby to meet the sun together. They fell asleep in the fields holding each other in their arms. She changed her name from Gabriella to Momo.
Momo still was willing to pursue her dream and carry on the journey with her sister, but she also did not want to leave Eduardo, so she decided to do both. She left him for a couple of months and continued the road towards the city with her sister. They had found quite a few places, many jazz bars, many ateliers, many bands looking for singers. It was not easy to adapt since they learned that knocking on people’s doors in the city makes them uncomfortable. However, both their talents were highly appreciated. They were willing to change a thing or two about their way of doing things in order to fit into the new society they had arrived into, but the main essence of their art stayed the same.
In the meantime, Eduardo was trying to open an art collective in his village home for more people to be given an opportunity to pursue their artistic endeavors. He was exchanging love letters with Momo. He wanted to see her more than anything, but he understood the reason why she would not be able to come with him anytime soon, so he had told his brothers everything they needed to know about the construction of the art center and left for Baguio City. Both Maria and Momo were so delighted he had made it; they showed him around, and he stayed in their apartment. He could not stay for more than two days, but before he had left, he had declared his love for Momo. She was in ecstasy, floating on cloud nine.
After a couple more gigs and jazz bars, one day, Momo returned to him and could not believe her eyes seeing how much the place had changed while she was away. There were so many volunteers living in the house, all of them helping around, painting walls, building new walls within the house to get more rooms, bringing materials such as canvases, musical instruments, cameras, and costumes. Everybody present believed in this project, and they were willing to stay there after the house would be ready in order to make art. Momo needed rest, so she stayed for a couple of days, and Maria joined her shortly after. Momo was already married to Eduardo when her sister arrived; they did not have a wedding, but they received many gifts from the people in the community. Even if now married, Momo was still a successful singer, and she was not going to give up on everything she had been working so hard for.
For the next months, the “ribbons” were pening back and forth between Baguio City and La Trinidad. They were so grateful to have so many places to stay, make art, and gain inspiration. Momo was sharing her love, spreading it romantically to Eduardo and passionately to her singing. Maria’s only love was sculpting. Until now, she was working day and night; shapes and colors inspired her more than any human would. She was not in a hurry to find the one; she was happy with what she had. Eventually, Santos was born, and Maria was his godmother. She was always taking Santos to the city, and the child would always attend every one of his mother’s concerts. The couple had decided to only have one child, so Santos was meant to become the new prince in the family. Everyone only paid attention to him; all the volunteers found it so funny to show him how to do things—how to put screws in the wall and hang paintings on them, how to connect an electric guitar to an amp, how to cook rice. He was a little craftsman himself at the age of five. Thanks to everyone’s generosity and patience, Momo and Eduardo were spending as much time as possible with their little pumpkin. They were all three sharing the same bedroom, so at least if the days were full of activities, the silent night could be a loving way of interacting. Santos was in love with his mother. She told him all sorts of her life stories. She taught him how to follow his heart and put his soul into everything he did. She was his role model, and he respected her greatly.
As beautiful as this story is until now, such beauty and purity cannot last forever. Especially when we are in love and happy and experience plenty of prosperity, we tend to forget that some of the evil sides of the world are ready to swallow us. Sometimes we never know where they come from. Such a mystery happened in the middle of this lovey-dovey living. Momo passed away. Maria confessed about what Eduardo had told her, that every time they would go to sleep, Santos would say as if to himself, “Mom, why aren’t you sleeping next to me?” Eduardo had tried to explain the situation to him, how his mother was never found again and how they presumed that she was eradicated from the face of the earth. Santos could not believe what he was hearing. He felt his mother was still alive. He knew from a young age that the bond he was having with his mother was more than special. He was willing to dedicate his whole life to finding her.
Santos was willing to start school in the big city, so he was living together with Maria, his godmother. He was a passionate reader, and his goal was to finish his education and start his journey to find his mother. Maria and Eduardo did not want him to be disappointed, and they were a little scared of what could happen to him mentally if he ended up never finding her. He was just like his mother, so they knew there was no way he would ever give up on it. So, they tried to facilitate his life all they could so that when he started his journey, he would have all the preparation he needed. When Maria came to tell the story to the newspaper, she showed pictures of Santos and Momo. The main reason why she was there was to spread the word about this tragic event and make people aware that somewhere in the world there is this young man with a hope of finding his mother. Santos made everyone believe there was still hope. When he turned eighteen, he started his journey. A couple of days before leaving, he had no idea where he was going, but his hope would never leave him.
This story is important because only in this way do we understand how to be there for others. Children’s imagination is sometimes so bright that adult reasonings are just not strong enough to beat it. Even if all the events in Santos’s life had been very intense, we can say that he was one of the happy cases of children losing their mothers, and that only because he was always surrounded by a loving family. Since he left, no one has heard much from him, but everyone’s hoping that Momo is somewhere out there and that their hearts would touch again. Please share this story to motivate people to be more aware of others in need.
