October 10th, 2006 18:55 TINJDAD
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY SPECIAL DAY IN MY SIMPLE LIFE.
I attended the birth of baby in a hospital. Not only DID I attend, but I helped in that magical, surreal, universally extraordinary event. Yes, I DID help with complete amazement and AWE.
Without doubt, it was THE EVENT. I wish everybody could know what happens during those very short but amazingly eternal, UNFORGETABLE moments.
I am not to describe perfectly the moments or the feelings because the whole event was and always will be too overwhelming for me to be able to describe it.
All I can say is that our mothers went through the IMPOSSIBLE. It is impossible to endure and go through what I have witnessed this very day without having a divine will and strength by their sides. They have divine power in them, indeed.
I was there and wasn't supposed to be. I went yesterday to Hammam and met this charming girl who soon opened up to me and told me about her job as a midwife, her home town, her new husband, and her life in Tinjdad as a foreigner just like me. She was super nice and I liked her and opened up to her as well. She invited me to "Ftour" (breakfast after sunset), which I happily accepted.
Right after school, I went to Hanane's (the new friend) house. She was waiting for me to show up and was glad I kept my word. We prepared "Ftour" together and talked a lot. I was enjoying every moment with her. Yet, while we were breaking our fasting at around 18:50, they called her for a new birth in the hospital. She had to go and leave me at home but then she suggested taking me with her, which I again accepted with great excitement and thrill.
We arrived to the hospital soon. The woman in labor was already waiting and ready to give birth to her second baby boy. Her name was Nawal and she was 22. I took off my djellaba and started helping Hanane in whatever she asked me to. I really did things I'd never thought I would have the chance to do. I did them with great pleasure. Nawal held my hand whenever I stood next to her. I never enjoyed holding someone's hand as much as I enjoyed Nawal's sweaty, shivering hand. I felt like crying. But I did NOT. I thought neither my friend Hanane, who was doing a great job by the way, nor Nawal, who was in great pain, needed to see me crying at those extraordinarily hard moments. Once in a while, I tried to cheer Nawal up by talking to her and asking her about her first boy's name and the name she was planning to give to the new one. She surprised me when she said she was thinking about "Abderrahman"; my favorite boy's name.
The baby's head showed up. I was totally overwhelmed, happy, surprised, afraid, with tears ready to run down my cheeks and wash out my awed face. Again, I did NOT cry. Instead, I was glorifying The Divine, The Powerful, The Greatest. I could hear myself saying "Allah Akbar" and "Subhana Allah" over and over again. That was all I could say and that anyone in this vast universe could say in that transcendent moment; The Moment.
Once relieved, Nawal hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, overwhelmed. She kissed my hand and I kissed hers back, grateful. We didn't matter the blood that covered our hands. For me, it was the purest blood; mothers' blood.
All I can say is that I am thankful to all mothers on this earth from all times. I am thankful to my mother. I apologize for all the pain I put her through, all the heartache I caused, all the late-night staying, all worries she had to suffer when I fall sick, the anxiety she endures when I am late for home, and my impatience and ingratitude as a teenager. I am thankful for all the love she is endlessly and tirelessly feeding and flooding my brother, my sister, and me with.
Thank you, MOM!! I love YOU!!
No comments:
Post a Comment