People say that age is just a
number and that it is utterly irrelevant. While I see this as an indisputable
truth, I cannot stop myself from thinking of something special to give to my Elaine.
In three days time, she is turning 50. She's an independent woman who seems to
have no need for people to look for her. She is special and I cannot fathom how
I would have survived in this world without the things she has sacrificed for
me.
I reached through my pocket before
releasing an audible sigh. Will she love the gift I will be giving her? I was
contemplating as I looked at the worn-out boots that I am wearing.
“How many years have you been
working as a garbage collector?”
“It’s my twentieth year in this
job. I am just happy that I will not die a garbage collector John.”
“Good for you! You are doing
something noble man. I salute you for doing this.”
I drank the remaining beer and pondered
on the remarks of my new partner. John is a young man and I really envy his dedication.
Was I like him when I was young, I may have given my daughter and my mother a
comfortable life. After the short stay in the pub, I decided to head home.
Along the alleys of this city, I
get to feel the presence of Elaine. She is not a famous celebrity. She is not a
renowned person. Few knew her. Few knew her story. It was this few people whom
I can vouch will stand proud of the real Elaine de Grass.
It was one fateful night of
December 1980. Elaine was on her way to the dorm when a group of four college
students forced her to hop into their car. Unable to fight, Elaine submitted
herself and was brought to the big blue house on the corner of 32nd and
33rd Avenue. She wanted to shout for help but her fear capsized her
desire to flee. She was drugged up and was raped. The next morning she was
found out lying naked near the central plaza. But rather than being cared as someone in distress and a victim, she was labeled a slut. Her parents died fighting for the
justice that Elaine deserves. Sad to say, the money and connection of her captors
overwhelmed the truth that lies behind that blue house.
Fifteen years forward, Elaine is
a single mother. She struggled to work on three jobs to give her son a good
life. In the morning, she would deliver harvests from farms in the southern
plains to fresh shops in the city. After all these, she would proceed to her
next stop. She’ll need to remain standing for 8 hours as a cashier in one of
the stores she delivers vegetables. When the store closes, she will hurriedly go
to reach the 5 pm log-in time to the restaurant where she works part time.
The young son she had was never
appreciative of Elaine’s effort. He despised her mother for raising him alone.
He has been rebellious for he felt that it was Elaine’s fault why he never saw
or knew who his father was. He stopped schooling at the age of 14 and went to
join a gang. It was typical for him and Elaine to just see each other in prison
or police station. Elaine bails him out and he walks away. This is the life he
has lived for 10 years until he finally settled with the woman who has changed
him. This woman was really amazing but then fate is just a bitter thing. The
day she gave birth to a girl, the woman died. Nevertheless, everything that has
become of the rebellious boy is owed to this woman. It was this event that made
the boy realized how much she has failed his own mother. He reopened his heart
to the mother he has never considered to be one.
I can clearly recall how my tears
were like never ending as Elaine tells me the truth behind my existence.
Elaine, the ever naïve and selfless mother was mumbling as she narrates to me
what happened that day. This encounter was exactly 10 years ago but I can still
remember how the atmosphere of that day has struck a lightning into the very
soul of mine. I was a failure as a son. I failed to treasure the very person
who saw my existence as a gift more than a curse. It was that time when I
realized that I owe Elaine more than what she has received from me.
Up to now, I still feel the
intense sense of guilt and remorse when I see Elaine. I tried my best to make
it up with her. Nevertheless, Deep in me lies this haunting of conscience that
constantly reminds of how I deprived Elaine the chance to become a mother to a
young boy. Being a parent, I know that I could never go beyond what Elaine has
done to me. I just don’t know how I can show Elaine the gratitude that is in
me. And now, she is turning 50. Alas! 50 years of existence in a world which
tried her beyond what she could have taken. 50 years filled with sufferings she
did not deserve. I know I have to find something that would make her smile, something
that would make her happy. I cannot buy the years back but I can surely do
things right now to make this woman know that she is special.
I came to look at the odds and
possibilities. I need to do it now. I have saved enough money for Elaine to
start her bakeshop. Every since my younger years, I saw her as a very good
baker. She has the flare to make bread delicious beyond taste and smell. I will
throw her the best birthday surprise, a bakery of her own. Everything is set. I
will be serving my last duty tomorrow as a garbage collector. The resignation
which I handed a month ago will take effect and I will be able to get the
separation pay which I could add up to finance the bakery.
The streets are filled with
spirit of Christmas. The colorful displays of the stores and music somehow
consoled my soul. I came to pass a jewelry store and saw something peculiar.
There is this necklace which is somehow similar to what Elaine has when she was
young. The necklace which I once stole and pawned during my younger years
somehow reappeared in front of me. Was this coincidence or a work of fate, I do
not know. I have decided to purchase this tomorrow and give it to her. She will
surely look gorgeous with this necklace.
My last day at work came and
everything went as planned. It was a day of joy and sadness. I am happy to
start a new life and I am sad to bid farewell to people who have valued and
treated me as a man of dignity. I went to the shop and bought the necklace. On
the doorstep of our apartment, I felt something eerie and that feeling
exemplified when I found out that nobody is inside. I found a note from my
daughter telling that Elaine is hospitalized and that she is accompanying her.
I hurriedly grab a cab and went to the hospital. The documents of the bakery
and the necklace I wanted to give Elaine are still with me. I am still holding
my gifts. I went inside the morgue to see her lifeless body. I was in a state
of confusion. I took Elaine to my arms and cried. I once again failed Elaine. I
just don’t know. I think it was always meant like this. Maybe, I am really a curse
to her and I should have never existed in the first place. It was a long period
of grieving and I was just lucky that my daughter was there. She was the one
who supported me. If not, I could have not known what to do next.
Two months after Elaine was
buried, I am still feeling the pain. I am entering Elaine’s room for the first
time after her passing. I was surprised as to how organized it is. Elaine died
of cancer. She did not tell any of us but she was aware that she was to die
that month. It was devastating. Elaine has remained to her character until the
end, an independent woman who tries to do things on her own. I pulled one of
the drawers and saw a letter addressed to me. Tears were rolling in my cheeks
when I reached under her bed and open a box containing the pair of boots she
bought me as Christmas gift. I took the necklace from my pocket and smiled. “Elaine,
you will always be the best.” I said to myself. I carefully place the boots
back and push the gift box back to where it was.
I just learned that the necklace
I was about to give to her is actually the real necklace she once owned. She
was actually able to recover it from the pawnshop before and kept it hidden for
years. Two days before she died, she sold the necklace to the jewelry store to
buy me and my daughter gifts. They are all under her bed… The truth behind
Elaine, they all are found under her bed. I just did not mind checking them for
I already know enough about this woman… Elaine was the mother I missed to have.
Elaine was the mother every child would wish for. Elaine is just extraordinary.
I left the room and went to open
the bakery. Now that I have more reasons to be happy, I feel rejuvenated.
Everything is set inside so I flipped the sign which reads “Welcome to Elaine’s
Bakeshop!”
