Choices

While writing some fancy schmancy legal words for my topics summary, I realized that my late paternal grandma wouldn’t have heard of them, never mind being able to explain what they are. Am I better than her? I think not. Where I am now is the result of her choices in life: of leaving (the Javanese village of Ponorogo) instead of staying, of exploring the Malayan jungles instead of being safe, of surviving the Japanese occupation, among others.

Baba made some choices of his own too: of breaking out (to study, despite severe hardships) and not be shackled, of marrying Umi, of staying instead of leaving the marriage, of making the best kind of living possible for all of us.

All these were courageous choices. On the existential level it is rather mind-blowing. My being here at this very moment, knowing what I know and doing what I do is the result of the choices of the past generations.

Relatively speaking, I had it easy. I can’t even begin to imagine having to make my way through the jungles to stake a claim to a piece of land to farm on. This is serious gung-ho stuff, nothing that I’ve ever seen before & may never (or want to) experience today.