Kak Gie called me on Monday. Talked about Selangor state government's "ibu tunggal" programme. Yours truly listened halfheartedly. Anyway, it culminated in her sending the form over the next day. I didn't know about this until she called me on Tuesday evening. I was a little under the weather and had spent the day sleeping so I hadn't ventured to the main house.
Kak Gie called me again on Tuesday night to check if I had filled in the form. I had. But I hadn't looked for my divorce papers then. I had to think where it could be. It's not a document I've had to use even once since I got it! And I got it a looong time ago. Which brings this to mind - why don't the authorities give us a divorce card as well? Something we could carry in our purse alongside our myKad, driver's licence etc.
I found the papers in a file on my bookshelf. [For a moment, I thought maybe it got burnt along with my diploma etc when my daughter's rental place suffered a short circuit a few years back]. I looked at it - my second look after all this time. The document that formalised the end of a big phase of my life. I smiled at the memories. Grateful that I'm not bitter. Thankful that our daughters turned out pretty "balanced" despite coming from a broken marriage. Relieved that we could still sit across a table and converse peacefully.
Kak Gie had mentioned that she would need help at the "ibu tunggal and wargamas jom shopping" bash at Giant on Wednesday. And she insisted that I should bring over my form when I said okay to helping out.
So there I was yesterday, with my current housemate, at Giant, Taman Pertama. A little sluggish from my sinus. We helped prepare the tags. Easy work really. Once done, I went off to get a drink while awaiting further instructions. In the interim, I helped direct some folks to the proper counters and with their queries.
I had prepared a shopping list last weekend and this seemed like a good opportunity to get my shopping done too. Guess what? Allah had other plans for me. Kak Gie enquired if I had my form ready. I nodded. She told me that they accept on the spot registrations.
And RM100 of my shopping was subsidised! Got a free lunch too - courtesy of my housemate. All because I said yes to helping out a dear friend.
Yup! Life throws us strawberries most times........
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