Remembering Rainy Days

For two days now, I am stuck at home due to non-stop raining and continuous flooding in our village. I hate it when it is raining! It made me feel gloomy and restless. I hate it even more because I could not help but remember my mother's last hours on earth.

It was the 3rd of November 2000 when super typhoon Reming hit the country. According to reports, it was one of the most destructive tropical cyclones in terms of casualties. Many properties were destroyed and many lives perished, my mother included. I could vividly remember that it was around midnight when typhoon Reming's wrath unleashed its power. It continued raining hard together with strong winds until morning. My mother who was bedridden due to a non-fatal illness was staying on the 1st floor. My father, hubby and me were in chaos because the flood was already knee-deep inside our home. I could not even recall how we were able to rescue our furniture from submerging in water, all of these happening sans electric power. Our lights were coming from small little candles! From time to time, we were to take a look at how mama was doing. She seemed restless but was doing all right, though we need to alternately fan her because she could not breath and was running out of oxygen. This seemed natural because she could not live without the electric fan turned on at its full blast. It was so unsuspecting of us that those moments would be her last. It was around 5am when the the rain stopped so I had to look at my then 3-year old son who was sleeping alone upstairs. I fell into a deep sleep when my younger sister who was 5-mos pregnant went to me at around 7 am and said that mama was gasping for breath. There was denial on our end ---she could not come near her...I could not...my father, too. It was my hubby who came near and held mama's hands. It was him who saw mama took her last breath. Fortunately, he was able to pray with her on her dying moments. We were trying to reach for a doctor inside the village, in an attempt to possibly revive her, but the flood was so high that only a ten-wheeler truck could passed through. She was declared dead at 10am though she actually expired at 7am due to complications from high blood pressure.

In hindsight, if only there was no typhoon...if only there was no flood, could it be that my mother is still alive? NOW, can you blame me if I hate rainy days????