Village Life - A wholesome experience

Dear Rocco,

Last night I was looking through my old pictures on Facebook and saw your comments and reactions. I know you are no longer in pain and that you are free of it. I can only imagine how life would be like if you were still around.

Things have changed drastically over the past few months. Our son - your little name-sake has kept me and Stella so busy that time flew by like the wind.

I bought a car like we planned but I still live in our same house house. The floor mats you bought and the curtains still hang. I had mixed feelings about still living in the house, I still have doubts now - whether to leave it all behind and move on, or stick around with some memories you with us. 

Remember the camera you bought during your graduation, yes its still with me and I gave it to little Rocco. Its his now, just like all the other properties he claimed - he is now the boss of the house. I'm sure you both would have a special bond. Seeing him growing up reminds me of our childhood. I bet the best part of it was in the village.

Village Life
We went home on Christmas and visited your resting place, I wanted little Rocco to visit home. I wanted him to see where we grew up, the trees we climbed, the creeks and rivers we jumped into and swam until dark, the tracks we ran up and down from, the sunsets and the cool breeze. Its almost 4PM now as I sit here in this air conditioned office, I remember those weekends when we used to come to the village, whilst mum and dad are out gardening, we will be playing in the bushes - either climbing small trees just to break them down or chasing birds, driving wooden stakes into wild bananas or climbing steep rocks just to see who will get up there first. 

Dad and Shaun harvesting sago leaves for roofing 

I remember when we used to build small platforms or 'beds' for us to sit and watch the cars travelling up from town. We'd chose colors and count the cars to see who will get the highest score - of course, the color white is excluded. We'd argue about who has the highest score, call each other names and chase each other around the house until mum scolds us. We used to climb the roof of the house and slide down either side, playing hide and seek!

Shaun - wok saksak

On holidays, we go home and spend weeks there in the village 'morota' haus. Holidays are usually a good time to go 'wok saksak' or harvest sago starch. We go as a family unit, and everyone gets to choose their favorite tasks. Whether is to help dad to chop the palm down, collect the extracts into 10kg rice bags, bringing those bags to the 'sokomba' or washing area so that the starch can be extracted or just building bridges or clearing the roads for people to walk to and from - its usually muddy.Every break from our tasks is rewarded by a jump in the deepest pool we can find. Shouting at the top of our voices and chasing prawns in the river. It was a wholesome experience and I'm glad I got to share this with you. I can safely say that our childhood was richly blessed. In the nights we sit by the fire and tell stories until we are all sleepy. Early in the morning, we wake up, a jump in the river and is back to work. 

Oh how I miss those days and I miss you around bata Rocco Man.