Mommy’s World

It was 10 am in the morning. A call from Mira. I couldn’t hold my tear. The Guven family was involved in a terrible car  accident. Mustafa, Ozlem and Zeynep, their oldest daughter are in serious condition. Omar and Ahmet are in better condition, Alhamdulillah. The Guvens is one of our dearest friends.

I couldn’t believe it….How could this happen? They were just few miles from their house.  What had cause the accident? Lots of questions running through my mind.

After reading from Peoria’s local paper, I knew that the accident involving a young driver who was driving under the influence of drug. What an act of selfishness!. On that day, he drove to opposite lane where Mustafa were driving. It was a head on collision. The police has to cut through the car to let Mustafa and Ozlem out of the car. The front part of the car was smashed badly. Ya Allah………
Ya Allah…, Innalillahi wa Inalillahi Roji’in.

The injury were serious. Mustafa, ozlem and Zeyneb  suffered from head trauma, broken bone and fracture, and stomach wound. InsyaALlah it’s not life threatening. InsyaAllah they will recover. We all pray for their recovey…..

What amazed me the most is how the community react to this unfortunate event. Everybody get together and help Guven family as much as they can. They made a schedule of things such as cooking for the family(for Mustafa’s brother who come from Michigan and the 2 sons who was out of hospital), cleaning the house, and accompanying Zeynab in her hospital room. They always come to visit Mustafa and Ozlem. They give a lot of emotional support for the family. Everything has been taking care of. What a team work. They even collect fund to be given to the family. MasyaAllah. I thank Allah that Guven family live there. It’s a solid community. They are in good hands.

Ozlem is out of hospital. She needs a lot of physical theraphy. Her parents have arrived from Turkey to help. Mustafa and Zeyneb are still in the hospital. They surely need a lot of help and do’a… May Allah gives them strength, sabar, speedy recovery…
Our prayer are with you, dear friends……

    Emperor Penguins? Yeah..absolutely right. They are cute and adorable and I found some interesting facts about their life lately. Thanks to my kids who always want me to sit with them while they’re watching TV. It’s begun with the amazing movie of "Happy Feet".  Then, I watch the documentary "March of the Penguin" and read couple of books about this amazing creature.

They live in the coldest place on earth. In the winter, while other animals migrate to other warmer places, the emperor penguins stay. They never leave their post.  When the spring comes the cycle of life begins. They go to one place to find their mate. They march together in one long line. The moonlight and the stars show them the way. It’s a long journey. If they get tired walking, they slide. They march to the same "mating ground" each years for generations.  I guess the long journey are worth it because they know they’ll find their mate for a life time:)

Then, it’s happen. The mom laid an egg. She keep it warm on the pouch between her feet. She was exhausted and hungry. She needs to find food so she can feed the chick when the egg hatched. She passes the egg to the dad. It’s a delicate process to hand over the egg to her partner. They must do it quickly and carefully or the egg will froze.

It’s the time for the female penguins to go to the ocean to eat. The winter started. They  will never see the sun for six whole month. While the female penguins find food for herself , the fathers had to take care of the eggs. The male endured such a harsh environment to make sure the circle of life continues. They huddle together in one big circle to protect them from cold. This will help them to conserve heat. They took turn being in the inside of the circle which obviously the warmest place to be. They need to do this the whole winter which last 6 months. Cold and hungry, with egg in between their feet. What a sacrifice!!

Then, the egg hatch. Hooray!!!! Dad give the baby liquid from his throat to keep the baby from hunger. He save this food especially for the baby.  Mom must return on the right time, otherwise the chick will not make it.

When moms return from the sea, somehow they know which penguins are their mate and which chicks are their baby. This is the first time the mom will see her baby. Then, dad will give the baby to mom. Its time for dad to go to the ocean to feed himself with the good meal. He earned it. He did his part.

Until the baby penguins can take care of themselves, mom and dad will take their turn in caring for the baby. What a team work!! Amazing how Allah creates this creature, Subhanallah. He gave the animals  all sort of instinct, senses, and skill so they can survive. He is the greatest and the All mighty.

What lesson I can take from these penguins? Well, I shouldn’t complain about my demanding kids to my hubby. He should remind me how Mambo’s dad take care of him in a very difficult situation. All the sacrifices and dedication……Wow, I shouldn’t complain. But wait…, Mambo’s dad only had to take care one baby penguin….Me???
I had four, MasyaAllah. One more thing.., Mambo’s dad doesn’t have to cook, clean the house, laundry, etc, etc,etc….So, I think I can complain a little bit, can’t I??

Nothing really special when we first met…
It wasn’t love at first sight

I was eating lunch with my good friend Nimo at Hullabaloo cafe. We were new students. You and Juned came up to say hi to Nimo. I don’t even know who you are. Nimo didn’t introduced us that very moment. After you left I asked him," Sapa tuh Mo?" Eko, dari Jakarta," he said.

Then, life goes on. We all had to struggle with our new life as a freshman in College Station, Texas. Fortunately we have lots of friends from Indonesia who we can always depend on.  It wasn’t easy.

One day, I was looking for a key to Mas Abid’s  study room (which transform to prayer room) in the library. It wasn’t there. Suddenly I saw you coming with the key. Just in time. "Lagi ngapain?", you asked. "Mau sholat", I said. Then you gave me the key. "Abis sholat ke cafeteria yuk?, you said.   I agree.

After that occasion we became good friend and the rest is history:)

Today is our anniversary. We decided not to eat dinner outside. It will be crazy with 4 kids:)
We prepare candle-lite dinner for two.., but guess what. Everybody join in. Malik was so cranky that Nabila couldn’t baby sit him. Saif keep coming to the table and ask for food. He blew the candle couple of time,too. Oh well…, dinner  for two? Forget it…, it’s dinner for 6:)

Happy anniversary my love…..

I thank Allah for you..and for the love you have for me.

Thank you for understanding me….and being patient with me.

Thank you for being there for me when I need you……

Thank you for wiping all my tear and sorrow

Thank you for making me brave when I’m scare and making me strong when I’m weak

Thank you for making me giving in when I feel like giving up…

Thank you for being my partner in raising our kids

Thank you for reminding me to be patient with our kids..

Thank you for giving direction to our family in the path to please Allah

Thank you for working so hard for this family

Thank you for making my dream come true….and finally

thank you for just being you. As cliche as it might sound, I had to say it, "You Complete Me".

Happy Anniversary my Love……