Chapter 13

Month of April, the daughter of Uncle Rom informed Adna that Uncle Rom died.  The older son also who is a lawyer also informed Adna.  They knew that Adna was the apple of the eye of Uncle Rom.  Since at first he was placed at the next city, Adna and Al went right away to pay their last respect to Uncle Rom.  When Adna came near the coffin of Uncle Rom, the lights near the coffin went off and on.  It was not only one time but successive.  Everybody saw what happened and thought that Uncle was happy that Adna was there.  Even the wife of Uncle Rom knew that her husband loved Adna as his child.  When Adna and Al went home, the younger son of Uncle Rom who is also a lawyer told Adna that he would send Adna and Al using his car and he would be the one to drive.  He told Adna that Uncle Rom’s body would be brought to their hometown quite far from Adna’s place which was four hours travel by bus.  When Al and Adna arrived home, they told Lex, Azia and Al the second that they would attend Uncle Rom’s funeral in the next two days.  They prepared canned goods, they would sleep there for one night.  The family arrived at the hometown of Uncle Rom late in the afternoon.  When the younger son of Uncle Rom saw Adna with her whole family, he was overjoyed.  They gave the room of Uncle Rom’s parents.  Uncle Rom’s father was the mayor of the town.  The house was very big.  It was an ancestral home of Uncle Rom’s family.  The younger sister of Uncle Rom all the time stayed with Adna.  Aunt Sally is the only sister of Uncle Rom and she married a doctor.  Aunt Sally was very kind to Adna.  Lex, Azia, and Al the second met their relatives mostly the grandchildren of Uncle Rom.  There were military guards standing at the side of Uncle Rom’s coffin.  Many military men took turns to guard Uncle Rom.  The military commander was sitting beside Adna who never leave Uncle Rom.  The younger son asked Adna, would you like to sleep at  Aunt Sally’s house?”  Adna answered, “ no, I won’t sleep, this would be the last moment I could spend with Uncle Rom”.  The younger son left to get some sleep.  Adna stayed awake with the militaries who were standing beside Uncle Rom’s coffin.  Al was telling Adna to get some sleep but Adna refused.  Al and the children slept as they were all tired of their long travel.  In the morning the next day, all the children of Uncle Rom gathered for breakfast, they were grateful that Adna stayed awake all night and did not leave their father, while all of them were asleep.  The son of Uncle Rom’s daughter who already died told Adna that he would be the one to drive for Adna’s family using his car.  Late in the afternoon Adna asked permission from Uncle Rom’s wife, sister and children that they would already go home.  Adna at first asked the military commander if her family could ride their military vehicle in going back to the city.  The military official said to Adna,  “ I would be glad to but there are children and it is dangerous in case there would be an ambush.”  Adna understood, she told Al that they would travel by bus.  Uncle Rom’s younger son told Adna that someone would drive Adna and her family home using a van.

It was not so late at night when they arrived home.  Adna talked with Lex, Azia, and Al the second, “did you all have a good sleep at the room of Uncle Rom’s parents?”  Lex repliied, “not so mom because it was quite scary, the lights would suddenly turn off.”  Adna said, “ your grand Uncle Rom might just be happy that we were around.”

It was the first long travel for Lex and Al the second, but the second time for Azia.  One more month for their school summer vacation.  Enrolment time comes for the coming school year.  Adna would bring them to the mall to buy their school requirements.  When Lex would pick her sixteen colors crayons, Adna would remember Lex comment about Santa Claus saying, “Mom, does Santa Claus know how to read?  I wrote on my letter to him that I would ask crayons, nice notebooks,pencils and then he gave me lots of expensive chocolates exactly the same with what Azia and Al the second received too.”  Then Adna could not hold her laughter when Azia strongly insisted that Santa Claus was mom and dad.  Azia used a mirror from inside the house to catch the true identity of Santa Claus.  Azia who was witty enough to discover the truth.  Adna noticed that Lex is intelligent but emotional.  Azia is intelligent and logical.  Al the second speaks what’s in his mind.  When Al the second took entrance at the school Lex and Azia studied, Adna was told by the registrar of the school that Al the second did not pass the entrance exam.  Adna asked for Al the second’s test paper, but they won’t show to Adna the results as it is confidential.  Adna talked with Al  the second regarding his exams and he insisted he knew the answers.  Al the second told his mom, “what will the dog eat, carrots? no, the dogs eat bones.  What will the rabbits eat, bone?, no, the rabbits eat carrots.”  The young child was right.  Adna went straight to the school directress and relayed to her the child’s rationale.  The directress of the school who was a nun asked the test papers of Al the second from the guidance counselor who conducted the child’s entrance interview.  Al the second got high score in his written exams.  His mistake was when he can’t pronounce letter “r” well.  When he was asked to say “orange” he said “olange”.  Al the second was enrolled in the same school where Lex and Azia studied.  The school accepts a boy student only if older sister is studying there.  Adna and Al were very happy to have their children study in the same school.