YEARNING

When my father sent me this picture saying I should go home, my heart cried.

How many of us living away from our family that cannot go home or visits them because of this pandemic plight? We wouldn’t be able to know the numbers and I am part of those. My annual leave schedule to the Philippines will be this coming December and I think I couldn’t make it. Still no regular flights and if there is, too many procedures of testing and quarantines, and before you knew it, your vacation days are over. Apart from that, I couldn’t take the risk of my parent’s health, they are seniors and their well-being is more important than my longing.

I am not the only one suffering from this impact, most of the workers here in Dubai choose to stay because of the travel dilemmas. Yes, you can leave the country no one would stop you, but flying back to Dubai have so many procedures, and since there are so many employers who took advantage of the word corona before you realized it, you were terminated already, or if you’re lucky enough, the company will wait for you but no work, no pay.

It’s so heartbreaking to realize that you have to choose between being with your family and saving your job because of the financial struggles we are facing. I’ve known several parents here in Dubai starting to send their children back home because one of them lost the job, couldn’t sustain anymore the expensive standard of living and some for cost-cutting. They say, this pandemic brings the family closer, but on the other side, it brings the members separately too, but at least physically right?

We really don’t know what’s next or when this bad time ends, or if things will go back to where it used to be. No matter how heartbroken we are, hopeless it seems at times, we should pull ourselves together if we want to live, and if we want to be with our loved ones again. We should convince ourselves no matter how difficult it is, that in this life, hope is endless.