Skip to main content

Selamat Ulang Tahun, Wi

Bandung, 1998. Beberapa anak muda sedang berbenah di rumah kosong itu. Mereka hendak menyelenggarakan pertemuan antara beberapa kelompok kaderisasi mahasiswa (waktu itu idealisme masih membara :). Di antara beberapa panitia, saya yang paling yunior. Kami sedang menunggu beberapa peserta yang belum datang, ketika seorang cewek tomboy berambut cepak datang membawa tas ransel besar. Seperti mau turun gunung saja, batin saya waktu itu. Cewek itu mengenalkan diri sebagai wakil dari Mudika Jatinangor.

Mendengar Mudika Jatinangor disebut, saya langsung menoleh dari kesibukan beres-beres. “Dewi ya ?”, tebak saya ketika menyapa cewek itu. “Mita ya ?”, balasnya hangat, menyambut saya dengan tawa dan cengirannya. Dalam waktu 5 menit kami seperti dua orang teman lama yang bertemu lagi. Tiba-tiba Sigit menyela pembicaraan hangat itu, “Kalian teman SMA ?”, dan kami berdua terbahak-bahak mendengar pertanyaan itu.

Itu perkenalan pertama saya dengan Dewi, seorang sahabat yang kemudian menjadi teman serumah di Bandung. Sebelum pertemuan itu saya hanya kenal namanya dari cerita Ninit, teman serumah saya yang juga ngekost di Jatinangor (dia punya 2 kost sekaligus hahaha!). Dia sering bercerita tentang teman kostnya di Jatinangor, yang ia deskripsikan mirip saya, jarang di rumah, selalu sibuk dengan kegiatan ini itu, bahkan menjadi ketua Mudika Jatinangor. Rupanya Ninit juga bercerita tentang saya kepada Dewi. Perkenalan itu kemudian menjadi persahabatan ketika kami banyak terlibat dalam kegiatan yang sama, apalagi kemudian dia menjadi teman serumah, penghuni kamar sebelah.

Dewi yang saya kenal ternyata tidak tomboy seperti kesan pertama. Kesan yang sangat berbeda akan kita dapatkan kalau kita masuk ke kamarnya di rumah biru itu. Sebuah kamar yang nyaman karena penataan yang sangat ramah. Dindingnya penuh dengan foto, mulai dari foto-foto keluarga, foto teman-teman, dan foto-foto hasil bidikannya. Hiasan bunga kering dan aroma teraphy yang sering dipasang memancarkan keramahan pemiliknya. Kamar itu, menjadi favorit banyak orang untuk berkumpul dan mengobrol sampai malam buta. Membahas berbagai hal, mulai dari topik-topik serius masalah keberpihakan sampai yang paling santai seperti temuan makanan favorit terbaru.

Dan sekarang, setelah bertahun-tahun sejak perkenalan pertama itu, dengan segala kesibukan kami masing-masing, pertemanan dengan sosok ini selalu menjadi charger saya ketika batere semangat saya mulai lemah. Dewi memang cocok dengan pilihan profesinya sebagai psikolog. It’s her gift. Semoga itu tetap ada dan menyala ya Wi. Selamat ulang tahun :) !

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thanksgiving 2020

What a crazy ride we have been riding in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has pretty much put our life on hold, if not going on a slower pace. I feel that we are running a marathon, and it's not over yet. The emotional toll that we have been experiencing since March is real. Everything that we used to take for granted, like meeting up with friends, birthday parties, kids activities, traveling, the convenience of doing grocery shopping anytime we want, a lot of them have been taken away from us, from my family. No more parties, no more lunch or dinner with friends, no more invitation for birthday parties, no more traveling. Perhaps my life had become too easy before the pandemic. We had to switch Nathaniel from a brick and mortar school to a cyber school. I tried to plan my grocery trips ahead of time to avoid crowds. We had to wear masks everywhere. But at least we are healthy. At least I am facing this together with my husband and kids as a family. At least I am at home that is fu...

Rediscover childhood ...

When Iis asked whether I'd like to join a traditional Indonesian dancing ~ Balinese, I was hesitated. Last time I did Balinese dance was in Nyoman Gunarsa's Sanggar Dewata around 1989. I started dancing Balinese at age 4 when I saw my older cousins dancing, so I told my mom that I wanted to dance. Wrong decision :p! My mom enjoyed bringing me to the dance club, more than I enjoy dancing, and I was stuck for more than 6 years :p I knew that I wasn't talented, but she just didn't let me quit no matter how much I begged, hahaha. I finally quit because I needed to study more to prepare for Ebtanas (I know, I know it's such a lame excuse, hehehe) . Never crossed my mind that I would dance again. First because I didn't enjoy it, second because I am not talented. When finally I say yes, I'll come, I thought it would be the first and last time :) But I was wrong. It's fun and I enjoy it. This time is different because my mom doesn't tell me to do the dancing...

What would they decide ?

When I was a little girl, I heard a lot of stories about far-away lands from my mother. She told me stories that she got from my father's letters when he was away. Our family was apart for four years. My father went to school to Montpelier, France while my Mom raised my brother and me in Yogyakarta. Every other year Dad visited us, brought a lot of books and pictures home. Pictures of Versailles, Lourdes, Marseilles, Spain, and a lot more. He told us many stories, brought me from our little home to those countries, although only in imagination. Since that day, I convinced myself that someday, when I grow up, I will see those places with my own eyes :) About twenty some years later, my turn came. I stand here, a few thousand miles away from home. About once a week I call home, talked to my parents about this place. About the harsh winter in Pittsburgh, about my new town near Philadelphia, about my new job. I might not be here if my father never brought me those pictures, told me st...