The guiding light
Dasa Maasey Ureykathwa
Po se si Uddhikaranang
Ayudhigan Wassasathan
Maathupadan Nama Mahan
Uddhikaro Aalingithwa
Tunbithwa Piya Puththakang
Rajamajjan Supatithan
Peethupadan Nama Mahan
PARENTAL LOVE: When we arrived in this world our mother shed a tear
of happiness. She was waiting for 10 months till we arrived. Our father
then lifts us with his strong arms and assures us that he will protect
us for life.
Some people may have pride in owning an expensive object but your
parents’ pride lies in you forever. Not all of us are lucky to
experience the love of our parents.
Therefore when you have the blessing of having your parents love,
never forget your beginning. As we grow we are moulded into adults with
our parents guidance. Always thank your parents. It is they who brought
you into this world. You owe them your gratitude.
It was a warm Saturday afternoon. Even the wind in the surrounding
area seemed lonely with no leaves to dance around with. The destination
I had reached was an elderly people’s home.
These homes were made for the convenience of people who don’t have
time for their parents. There were two sections separating males from
females. I proceeded to the male section where the elderly gents were
staying.
They all started smiling at me as if I was their long lost daughter.
It was so wonderful to see their smile. It was as if they hadn’t smiled
that way for months.
These gentlemen were once young men. Most of them were fathers and
now they have been reduced to invalids.
As I entered the ladies section, some ladies were talking to
themselves and most of them were watching vehicles passing by on the
road. I could sense that these women were fighting to erase the pain
that they were going through. They were striving to forgive their
families over and over again.
An old lady of about 75 jumped in front of me “Aney nona, mata
gahanna eppa mama waradhak karalla nah” (please, don’t harm me I haven’t
done anything wrong). I was shocked. I would never want to harm this
woman yet she was saying the same thing over and over again as if she
was reliving an experience from her life.
My mind immediately went back to when I was about seven. One of my
greatest regrets is not being able to meet my grandparents. They passed
away before I was born.
One of the most interesting people I loved to meet was my
grandfather’s sister. She was 89, I used to imagine that she was my
grandmother and whenever we had family functions I used to always search
for her. Unfortunately acha (grandma) passed away when I was 10.
I saw my achchis face in these women. I wanted to reach out and
stroke her hair but she ran away. I wanted to find out what was
disturbing this woman. Who had tormented her. I was told by the matron
that she has gone crazy as she used to think too much about her past.
I entered the rooms. They all sat up and adjusted their clothes. Some
of them took their hairbrushes and began to comb their hair to look
presentable.
They were making an effort to look presentable hoping to gain
approval from me. Perhaps they thought I was sent from their families to
take them back home.
The bell began to ring to announce that it was lunchtime. There was a
temple opposite the lunchroom. Everyone got together to pray before
lunch. I prayed along with them hoping that their faith wont abandon
them.
Abandonment leads to the destruction of a human being. If you abandon
your child or your parent’s, you are taking away their life. Abandonment
can ruin a persons mental health and can cause never ending pain leading
to heartbreak.
No matter what happens, only your parents will be there to even shed
a tear for you in moments of happiness and sorrow.
You will never find a love stronger than what your parents hold for
you. Children nowadays forget the importance of nurturing and treating
their parents well. They forget that they too will grow old and they too
will become parents one day.
We must remember that we are a reflection of how we think and how we
treat others.If we can leave this earth knowing that we have been good
children to our parents and good parents to our children we are definite
role models for the next generation to follow. |