On our mother's side of the family, she has a lot of siblings. Currently, there are four sisters (including her) and three brothers, seven siblings in total. Before, there are five brothers in their family but both the eldest and the youngest passed away.

Now, let me introduce to you the second-eldest sister in the siblings, auntie Viola. She has a daughter and an older son. And the one who's struggling is the daughter named Jobelle.

A bright and happy child in her elementary days

Ate Jobelle is quite old now, at around age 35. But it would be easier to understand if we go back to her past, starting with the fun and playful grade school days.

She was a child full of fun and happiness, especially during grades 4-6. Every afternoon there's an opportunity for her to buy snacks and biscuits, usually paired with coke and juices. The pastime in the 90's often revolved around anime, cartoons, TV shows, and playing outside, which she all enjoyed. Even if ate Jobelle was living in a happy and carefree style of childhood, she never neglected her studies. In fact, every recognition day, her name is called on stage, and I saw a picture of her in their home having lots of medals with numerous awards brandished on it.

Dealing with the drunkard dad

Ate Jobelle was a thrifty child and always saves a lot of money from her allowances which she often used for school projects, snacks, and toys that were common at the time. There's a large alkansya (a piggybank) in her room that holds many coins and bills in it. Every month, the alkansya is opened by unlocking the lid using a special padlock that only she has access to.

One night at around 10 pm, her drunk father just got home, banging the doors and walls of their home. As he went upstairs, he went immediately into the room where he knows Jobelle is hiding an alkansya which holds a lot of money. Then he tried to open it but to no avail due to its padlock, and there's no sign of any keys nearby. Left without any choice, he smashed the alkansya on the floor, which cracked easily as it's made out of porcelain.

Jobelle was taking a quick bath as her father stormed her room, and she was stunned after hearing the shattered alkansya banging on the floor numerous times. There are also the sounds of coins rolling around the floor.

She immediately went upstairs and tried to scold her dad about what happened while tears flow down her face. Her mom, Auntie Viola, quickly went upstairs after hearing all the events in the room (Viola was watching a teleserye downstairs, and she knows the habit of her drunk husband every night).

Viola was scolding her husband Domeng because she knows Jobelle was saving up a lot of money for her school project for next month. Domeng just muttered random words and swore a lot that time. Thankfully, it came to the point that the drunk man felt the intoxication and slept in his bed.

The start of a traumatic experience

Ate Jobelle did not recover well mentally after the incident, and there was a time when she hid inside the closet after hearing that her drunk dad just came home. The shattering, rumbling, and swearing of her dad came into her mind that triggered traumatic experiences. These experiences continued until the end of high school.

In the final year of high school, she experienced malaria. This illness added to her set of traumatic experiences, including the blood transfusion, which made her feel uncomfortable.

"I don't want you to go into college."

As she graduated with flying colors in high school despite all of the terrible experiences she had, the time came where she had to make a career choice in college. Her dream was to become a teacher as she felt the passion for teaching younger people.

The parents heard this decision, and they responded with a worry that Jobelle might not earn well with this profession. She insisted that this is her dream job and passion that would make her feel fulfilled. Her dad responded that he would not let her go into this profession and will not fund her college education.

Jobelle cried a lot after hearing this, as her own parents shattered her dreams. She always asked the question, "What did I do to deserve all of this."

Decades of staying at home due to depression

Ate Jobelle was so desperate in life that she just stayed at home with her mom from the age of 16 until today at 35. She only had one job that her father's boss offered her, an assistant in a cake shop. It lasted only for a month because she was feeling uncomfortable being with other people.

As I was in my elementary days, I am sometimes in their house, where we often talked about her life before, and she shared those experiences. She taught me in some of my subjects where I had some difficulties, and I can say she is really fitting to become an educator.

However, as time goes by, her personal and family problems are becoming worse each day. Jobelle's past is still haunting her, with no job or dreams to work with. The worst is yet to come that she and her family have to deal with it...

To be continued until next time!

[#9, August 23, 2021]

*Lead image from Pixabay