The reason my heart refused to surrender that night.
Every beat I fought to keep
was a promise
that I would stay long enough
to watch your dreams take flight.
~*°*~
Flashback: Badminton Court, November 20, 2016
The shuttles flew high…the court was bright…
Rackets clashed on the opponent’s side…
I moved…
I ran…
my heartbeat calm… serene…
Until the world went dark…
and became unseen…
…tug tug…
…tug tug…
My heart went wilder…thumping I could hear…
It felt my soul might flee…escaping fear…
…tug tug…
…tug tug…
The sound grew louder…Each pulse a drumbeat…
My chest grew broader…My vision fled a bit....
A shadow swallowed it all…
The lines…
the net…
my friends…
I feared the fall…
I crawled to the corner bench…
seeking air…
The fan’s cool breeze…
brushed softly through my skin and my hair…
Slowly…
shapes returned…the court came into view…
But I could not play…my body knew…
Life’s fragility pressed heavy on my chest…
Thoughts of my daughter…would not let me rest…
If this were last…what love could I impart…?
What gift remain…before the senses part…?
Then with a heart that could barely keep
I wrote the poem …
“This Would Be My Longest Sleep.”
~*°*~
Diagnosis : November 21, 2016
On the next day…
I visited the best in town…
Doctor Raty Mejia…
the internist well known…
He checked my ECG…and my 2D echo…
What he found out…
shook me more than I could know…
A mitral valve prolapse leaflet was there…
Acquired from stress…a truth I could not bear…
My heart had spoken…Loud… and clear…
A warning…a whisper…both hope… and fear…
~*°*~
Motherly Survival & Plea:
But I snatched my life from the soul reaper’s hand…
And I asked the heavens
for one more borrowed life to live in this land…
Not for glory…
not for riches…
not even for myself…
But for time…
just a little more time...
Time to watch my daughter rise…
to see the fire within her eyes…
To witness the dreams she bravely pursues…
And the victories waiting for her to choose…
Now it’s 2026…
Ten years have passed…
I still recall those memories…
In my mind…still fresh
For she is still young…almost eighteen today…
Standing where childhood slowly fades away…
College awaits her…a future so wide…
With courage and hope…walking by her side…
So until the day her dreams take flight…
This fragile heart…will continue the fight…
For I asked life gently…
With a mother’s plea…
“Grant me more tomorrows…
so her success
is the last thing I see.”
