Perhaps before MJ went to sleep, he must have been very excited that he and his family are going for a swimming party, which was conducted by his mother's school. It wasTteacher's Day and MJ's mom was a teacher. When I was his age, I love road trips with my family and the beach is my favorite destination if not, swimming pools.
The last morning he woke up, he probably couldn't wait to leave. He was buying different sorts of stuffs one at a time going back and forth to his uncle's Sari-Sari store, which was just right next to their house.
Uncle Sam: Nganu ga cge man ka balik balik MJ, di nalang nimu tingbon palit tanan?
(Why do you keep coming back, MJ? Why don't you buy everything all at once?)
MJ: Bitaw uncle, ako nalang jud ni tingbun tanan para di na ko mo balik.
(You're right uncle, guess I should buy everything at once so I won't have to come back.)
And that was the last time his uncle Sam saw his nephew.
When Mae Ann got back to the U.S after her vacation in Leyte last year, she unpacked her bags and found a rolled paper with a drawing of Mae Ann, her unborn child and a robot MJ was asking as a pasalubong when she gets back. Mae Ann was about to return this month with her baby boy and husband for a vacation, but it's too late. She can't give her pasalubong and can't even make it to MJ's funeral because she's waiting for her baby's passport.
MJ's dad is not going out their room. He couldn't bare seeing his child inside a box. He couldn't stop blaming himself. And the people going to the wake are asking the same question "Wala diay nag bantay sa bata?" ("Wasn't there anyone watching the boy?") which hurts him so much and make him blame himself more. I know his dad, he was a very good father. He cooks for the family, wipes their butts, give them baths, send and fetch them from school. That day, his hands were full, he was looking after his 2 younger sons, feeding them lunch, while the wife was buying short pants for swimming.
MJ, being the eldest, his parents must've thought nothing would happen that day. I'm not sure if he knows how to swim which is why his parents were not so worried. But it happened. The 2 lifeguards who were supposed to be in their posts were helping each other carrying a table. There were many people in the pool, but nobody noticed a child fighting for his life. Everything was too late.
MJ was gone.
The last morning he woke up, he probably couldn't wait to leave. He was buying different sorts of stuffs one at a time going back and forth to his uncle's Sari-Sari store, which was just right next to their house.
Uncle Sam: Nganu ga cge man ka balik balik MJ, di nalang nimu tingbon palit tanan?
(Why do you keep coming back, MJ? Why don't you buy everything all at once?)
MJ: Bitaw uncle, ako nalang jud ni tingbun tanan para di na ko mo balik.
(You're right uncle, guess I should buy everything at once so I won't have to come back.)
And that was the last time his uncle Sam saw his nephew.
When Mae Ann got back to the U.S after her vacation in Leyte last year, she unpacked her bags and found a rolled paper with a drawing of Mae Ann, her unborn child and a robot MJ was asking as a pasalubong when she gets back. Mae Ann was about to return this month with her baby boy and husband for a vacation, but it's too late. She can't give her pasalubong and can't even make it to MJ's funeral because she's waiting for her baby's passport.
MJ's dad is not going out their room. He couldn't bare seeing his child inside a box. He couldn't stop blaming himself. And the people going to the wake are asking the same question "Wala diay nag bantay sa bata?" ("Wasn't there anyone watching the boy?") which hurts him so much and make him blame himself more. I know his dad, he was a very good father. He cooks for the family, wipes their butts, give them baths, send and fetch them from school. That day, his hands were full, he was looking after his 2 younger sons, feeding them lunch, while the wife was buying short pants for swimming.
MJ, being the eldest, his parents must've thought nothing would happen that day. I'm not sure if he knows how to swim which is why his parents were not so worried. But it happened. The 2 lifeguards who were supposed to be in their posts were helping each other carrying a table. There were many people in the pool, but nobody noticed a child fighting for his life. Everything was too late.
MJ was gone.
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