There is a lady along the corner of A. Bonifacio Road. That is the road I take every time I report for work. With her things inside the sack, she sat in one corner of the waiting shed. As night falls, she would adjust her sack and make it as her pillow. There she slept soundly under the waiting shed. With the open air and the dusty road as the corners of her new found home, she seemed serene. As the sun rises, she organizes her sack and stays still under the waiting shed. She just sits there as if waiting patiently for some one.
Her name is Aurelia. At the age of 61 and with recurring physical illness, no employment pool would open their arms for her. Her only sibling died. With no relatives alive, no one accompanies her. With her physical condition, being sick and all that, she said that coffee is always her answer for every physical discomfort. Every time she labored breathing, she finds a way to get coffee and she feels better after that. I cannot help but to wonder if it is really her sickness she was feeling every time she urged for coffee or is it her stomach wanting? I told her days ago that coffee is not the answer to neither of the two reasons. Regardless, coffee seemed to be her refuge. Unfortunately, an accident prompted me to stay home. Hence, I could not visit her abode.
The last time I saw her, she was peacefully asleep under the waiting shed. Wow, how could she sleep with an iron as her bed and a sack as her pillow? Who could blame her? It was 1:00am. The whole world sleeps during wee hours. It is just me and those who are like me who are awake to earn a living. But then, as I insert to her sack a small amount of money, I can not help but to notice how tranquil her face was. Aurelia, had nothing, no shelter, no food, no family yet so tranquil. I cannot help but to wonder, some are earning huge amount of money but can not even smile. Some owned properties but can not sleep well. Most of us have family but are always fighting. But here is this woman, a woman who have nothing, but is so... serene.
Picture taken from christiansincars.com
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