A Bittersweet Memory That Made Me Who I Am Today

My best childhood memory is not a joyous one at all. It's a sad one, but I guess if I didn't have that memory, I wouldn't be where I am today, so I think that's why it made it to my list of best childhood memories. Time and time again, I've shared my experiences related to this, and that's to show you how much it would be almost impossible to forget that childhood experience.

I was only four years old then; it was a beautiful Sunday, and we all woke up and prepared for worship. I can't remember everything well, but I knew we went to church that day, and when we got back, Mom prepared something delicious for lunch. That night, while I was sleeping, I had a very long dream; it felt so real. I was scared, so when I woke up, the first thing I went to check was if my mom and dad were at home. Seeing them at home that morning, I became relieved, and I just didn't care much about the dream I had.

It was Monday morning, time for school! My mom dressed us up and asked my aunt to take us to school since she was also a teacher at the school. At that point, it felt like déjà vu, but sadly, it wasn't; I guess as a child, I just didn't want to agree with everything that was happening or was about to happen. That morning, I was just too uncomfortable at school and unusually quiet, but no one really cared; I didn't care. Since my aunt was a teacher at the school, we had to go back home late. When we got home, we couldn't find my mom, so we asked the neighbors if they saw her, and they said they saw her leaving a few hours after we left for school.

While we were still trying to figure out where my mom went, my dad came back from work. He was looking a bit tired and stressed, but the moment he heard that my mom had left, he became so restless and sad. I was just somewhere, trying to process all that was happening, and it was at that point I realized that everything happening was what I saw in my dream the past night. I became more worried because, in my dream, my dad got hurt. I was still little, so what I said wasn't going to hold any weight, so I just stayed where I was, looking at everything happening and still comparing it with what I saw in my dream.

After a few minutes of pacing around, my dad said he was going to my grandma's place to look for my mom. My grandma's place was quite far from our place, but my dad insisted on driving his motorcycle to the village. At that point, according to my dream, my dad would get into an accident, but I couldn't make him change his mind about not going to look for his children's mother. My dad asked my aunt to hold me back so I don't keep stopping him, and then he drove off. I was so worried, and it wasn't even up to 30 minutes after my dad left, and we saw him coming back, almost leaping. I wasn't so surprised because I already knew it was because he got into an accident while riding unfocused.

The story was long, like I said, and in the end, literally every single thing that I saw in my dream happened on that Monday! I was not happy, but I was a child, so I easily let go of what had happened, but I knew at that point my mom had left us. After that experience, a lot of things became really difficult for my dad, and it affected us in every way you can think of. The more I grew older, the more I realized how much my dad had gone through just for my siblings and me. He always cared for us so much that we never felt like my mom left.

The more I think about that day, the more I'm reminded that I just have to do my best in everything I find myself doing because my dad deserves so much for what he did for my siblings and me. My dad became an inspiration for me to just want to do well every single time so I can get the opportunity to repay his love and support towards us.

Looking at the lady I've grown to be, I'm so proud of the fact that my dad didn't let his guards down but took care of us as much as he could, and that's why I am where I am today. I was sad at first that all those sad things happened to us in just one day, but looking back from today, I'm so grateful for that day because it turned out to make my life beautiful and more worth living.

This is my response to the IndiaUnited topic suggested on "MY BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY."