Larger than life…
Emotionally, leaving None Hai was harder than I thought. Like many things in my life, something so simple turned into something complex and so wonderful. At first glance, my trip to None Hai was just a 4 day visit to see my aunt and uncle. But instead, luck intervened and I met a kind, intelligent and beautiful woman. What happen to me in None Hai was certainly not expected or planned, but nonetheless, I welcome it. Life is funny like that sometimes, the best stories are the ones you didn’t plan and the best times are rarely ever scheduled.
To know someone is to walk a day in their shoes, I am told. With May, not only have we walked in each others shoes, but I am sure we have lived each other’s life before.
We all need someone in our life, someone who’s larger than life, and someone who’s almost a superhero, an unweaving figure who can withstand any adversity. We need someone who will take us by the hand and tell us everything is going to be ok, no matter how dark the storm ahead may be. For me, that person was my mother. For May, there was no one. Everyone who has every touched her life has let her down. Her father is in jail, her mother is barely able to support her family, he ex-husband beat and tortured her, and her relatives abandoned her when her needed them the most. In essence, she is alone. I wanted to save May. I wanted her to feel safe and I wanted her to feel needed. I wanted to know she was going to be ok, because deep down inside, I wanted all those things for myself too.
I gave May a hug and said my goodbye. She handed me lunch, a boiled chicken and some rice, for my trip to KM52. (No tears though, May is also coming to KM52 in a few days, to visit her Grandmother…that’s right, she misses her grandmother! So what?!)
I was right about the thunderstorm from the night before. Because of the recent rain, leaving None Hai was not as dusty or hot, even the roads seemed a little less bumpy. We left my aunt’s house a little before 1:00 PM, she kept my cousin and I for as long as she could. I hate goodbyes personally. Even on my trip back to Laos, only my sister was allowed to drop me off at the airport. However, leaving None Hai was different and I knew it. I had no control over whom or how many people were going to come by. My worst fears were realized later that morning, it seemed like the whole village came to see us leave. I was fine, up until my aunt stated to cry and told me how much she was going to miss me, and suddenly a flood of emotions came rushing in. Tears streamed down my face as we climbed into the back of the truck.
My cousin and I did spoke very little on our way back to KM52; there wasn’t a tone of excitement in our voices like the days before, when we were coming to None Hai. Too much had happen and it was already too late in the day. We stopped at the same rest stop we had been a few days earlier. Only the day was different, the same people, the same vendors, and the same food and merchandises were there. Even the smell was the same. I exited the pickup truck and took a quick glance of the crowd nearby. Against all logic, I was hoping to see the young Hmong mother and her sick child again. They were still on my mind and I wonder how the boy was doing. I pray he is doing better wherever he may be.
We arrived in KM52 a little before 4:00 PM.
Talk to you all soon,
LHG
Topic: Going to Laos... For Dummies (Like Me) (Read 227265 times)