The Crying Child

           By Vic Odarve

A young couple with a year-old baby moved into a new neighborhood. Living next to their house, was also a senior couple with their clever looking dog as their security guard during nighttime. This senior couple seemed regret to have them as neighbor since the arrival of this young couple, their child is constantly crying during night sleeping hours and eventually disturbed and awakened them and some of their neighborhood from their sleep.

The crying child

 That being in their senior’s stage, the crying really disturbed the rhythm on their sleeping habit. Then the wife said angrily to her husband, “That young couple does not know how to keep their child from crying during night time; what they should have done is merely have to keep ready the prepared milk bottle and give it at the moment the child tend to wake up from slumber. Perhaps they need parental seminar and guidance.”

Her husband looked to his wife and said, “Just keep quiet, you might be heard.” But the wife was unhappy and disturbed. Then she added,” When will be this crying in the middle of the night be stopped? For us seniors, once awakened, it is difficult to go back to sleep anymore.” But the husband did not respond.

Oftentimes since she lacks sleep, she would weep with sorrow, regret, despair, and misery over their new neighbor. Every time the wife heard the child crying in the middle of the night and disturbed their sleeping, she said to her husband with the same comments.

Senior couple with a pet dog

 Then one day, their pet dog that used to guard their house and bark the intruders during nighttime was found dead due to snake bite. This aggravated her problems. Because of this, she was greatly depressed and devastated. The dog helped to scare off threats from intruders during nighttime. “Oh my God, nobody will alarm us at deep of the night if somebody enters our premises.”

A week later, the wife observed that the baby crying at nights and early morning disappeared. She thanked God for they can sleep well as they used before.

One early morning, the wife said to her husband, “Look, did you observe something over the baby crying in our new neighbor? The baby is no longer crying. We can sleep well till morning. They finally learned how to control their child behavior correctly. I wonder who taught them.”

Once disturbed, seniors have difficulty in going back to sleep

 One Sunday, as she was walking in their backyard to refresh herself after the church activities, suddenly she saw the young couple walking with a child.” How is your baby? I have not heard this baby crying during night anymore,” she said. The young couple said,” Sorry madam for the noise. Your dog barks a lot at midnight where most people are coming home from nightshift works and daybreak when people go to the market. That dog barking distracted the child from sleeping and once awakened, we had difficulty controlling the child from crying.” Upon discerning this, the wife was stunned and could not believe. The dog barking indeed affected the child sleeping. She felt guilty!

And so, it is with life… Hence, don’t be too quick to judge others. Judging your neighbors does not define who they are. It defines who you are.

Today, every time she heard a baby crying during sleeping hours, she remembered the crying baby and the young couple that once upon a time became a part of their neighborhood.

 

The Husband is About to Abandon His Family

                     By Vic Odarve

After a year of their marriage, the couple picture seems so dark. A little disagreement over simple mistakes blown into a huge confrontation. In most of their fierce quarrels, neither one of them seems to adjust and relax into a cooler head. Fortunately, two times the husband was nearly hit by a gleaming knife hurled by his wife. He thought that the previous quarrels were merely brought by the pregnancy period of his wife. “But now the child is a year old and she did the knife for the third time, I had to leave this house before it is too late,” he said. 

Couple in Quarrel

Hence, the husband planned to abandon her wife. He devoted a week preparing bags properly packed with clothes and personal belongings but keeping away from the eyes of his wife. 

The time he waited for finally came. After attending a birthday party in one of their neighbors and going home late in the night, his wife and the child were falling asleep early. Sensing that the wife in deep sleeping, the husband slowly stood up and got the prepared packed bags at the corner room. “It was the time to leave this house,” he thought to himself. It was around 1:30 am but as he was about to close the door and fled the house, the child was awakened and said, “Daddy, daddy?”. He immediately put back his bag in a room and return and cuddle his baby before his wife woke up. “Oh my God. I can’t leave,” he told himself. The baby was still in his arm sleeping till the early morning of the day. He was vastly devastated. He was not able to leave the house secretly as planned. 

Have a Moment with Grandchildren

 Since that time, he realized that the pivotal moment he planned to leave her wife, the charming picture of this baby girl played back and forth on his conscious mind. Then ultimately, he also realized he had no other more preferred option other than to exercise patience with his wife as a couple, though at odds sometimes. Years had passed and his young girl turns into a woman and a good skilled nurse working as OFW in the state. 

For 5 years working abroad, the daughter was sending hundreds of dollars which enable the couple to own a house and lot in addition to the expensive car for the family use. It was a truly a blessing for having a daughter. 

Not long ago, the parents received a round trip ticket to USA for a grand wedding of her daughter in the state. She got married to her American boyfriend working also in the same hospital as nurse. 

Today when the husband saw their beautiful residential house and a car, he cannot help but recall the past when he was about to abandon his wife and the child. And it was the crying of this child looking for daddy that halted him from abandoning his wife and eventually knitted the family relationship through ‘thick and thin’ of their marriage life.

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