My Encounter With Robert Papong

Last Sunday, October 26, 2008, our Filipino American group here in Birmingham held a Charity Potluck Lunch at the gym of Our Lady of Lourdes Church for the purpose of raising funds for Robert Papong.

Who is Robert Papong? Chances are you don’t know him for he is just an ordinary 10-year old kid from a small island in Southern Leyte, Philippines. But what he had gone through is out of ordinary. A few years back their house got burned. Everybody escaped the fire, some with minor injuries but Robert sustained a third degree burn in the right side of his body. As a result of that incident, the skin of Robert’s right side and upper arm melted and joined together up to the elbow. His lower right leg was also joined to his upper leg  thus causing him to be in a perpetual squatting position. Robert accepted his fate and maintained a positive disposition in life despite his pitiful condition. He remained playful and friendly with other kids. The only difference is that he walked like a duck and jumped like a frog.

 One day, a Filipina nurse, by the name of Ida Pate, who is working here in Alabama went home to the Philippines for a visit. There she saw Robert playing with the other kids on the street. She pitied the boy and realized that the boy needed medical attention which he might not be able to get in the Philippines. Ida negotiated with the parents and the Department of Social Services and she succeeded in getting the boy’s necessary travel documents and brought him here.

 A certain Birmingham surgeon by the name of Michael Beckenstein, MD, FACS, got wind of the boy’s story and offered to perform the necessary medical procedures for free to restore the boy’s physique back to normal. A series of operations were done a few months ago.

 When I arrived at the potluck last Sunday, I thought that I could still see Robert in his squatting posture as what we heard about him. When I ask somebody where Robert is, he pointed me to a scrawny boy playing basketball, limping a little but no longer walking like a duck nor jumping like a frog. He already look like any other normal boy although if you go closer, the scarce are still visible and I learned that some skin grafting procedures is still to be done.

Our group’s fund raising last Sunday was able to garner a total amount of $1,300.00 which will go into Robert’s educational fund. Robert misses his family very much and he wished that his twin brother can visit him. Hopefully some good Samaritans will shoulder the travel expenses of his brother or even his parents to be able to come here for a reunion.

Immensee: A Story of Unrequited Love

Prologue

Immensee was a required reading in our high school literature class under Miss Beatriz L. Canizares. It is classified as a short story although it is quite long that it is almost a novel. This story is so beautiful, it has left a lasting impression in my young mind that it remained unforgettable through the years: the title, the plot, the main characters - Reinhard and Elizabeth and the author's name including his middle initial - Theodore W. Storm.

Recently, I purposely searched this story in Google and luckily enough I found a site that prints the text in full:

http://www.fullbooks.com/Immensee.html. I read the story again. It never loses its appeal through the years that I was moved to put down my thoughts in writing. I am imagining that I am back in my high school literature class and Miss Canizares requires us to submit a home reading report. Those who have not read the story may not be able to appreciate my literary review. And to those who want to read this beautiful story, you can read it online at the address I cited above. A good friend of mine who shared my passion for reading has recently read this story and she described it in two words: unrequited love. I can only agree.

A Literary Review

After reading the story, I can say that my sentimental self is keen on situations like this. We always love happy endings, the and-they-lived-happily-ever-after variety. But stories like this bring us back to our feet, wake us up from our daydreams and open up our eyes to the reality of everyday life.

Reinhard and Elizabeth did have a very beautiful beginning. It was pure, innocent love. They loved each other and they knew it. Elaborate words were not needed. Their actions proved it. Reinhard, being five years older, pampered Elizabeth with so much attention and care. And she loved to listen to his stories even if some have been retold many times.

Their relationship's downward path started when Reinhard went to the university. He was an intense young man, impetuous, ready to explore the new world he was entering. He never doubted Elzabeth's love for him. He was so sure of her devotion to him that no matter what, Elizabeth was always there waiting for him. And so, together with his newfound friends, he danced and dined, womened and wined.

He never wrote her a letter. He forgot his promise to continue telling her stories. But she kept her end of the agreement. She helped his mother bake a birthday cake for him and sent him her beautifully made embroideries. She kept hoping that one day they would be together again. She did not forget his promise that one day he would bring her to India to see the lions. What was lacking in their relationship was a blueprint of what they would like to be in the future and how they would attain it to get there. This was Reinhard's responsibility being the man and older at that. Aside from vague references to India, there was no plan for their future. And Elizabeth was left hanging in the dark.

The first time Elizabeth mentioned the name of Eric in her letter should have been a wake up call for him. But he dilly-dallied. He was now immersed in the inertia of his prodigal lifestyle. By the time they met again, the chasm between them was almost unbridgeable. But Reinhard was in a state of denial. They maintained the form, going together to the fields collecting plants and flowers but the closeness was no longer there. The internal structure of their relationship had already crumbled.

The linnet died of old age and not out of Elizabeth's neglect. In fact, we can deduce from the story that Elizabeth took good care of it. But the bird's death was symbolic of what was to come. Elizabeth was very innocent of Eric's real intentions towards her. And she was confused why Reinhard could not stand to see the yellow bird given by Eric who was now the one sitting in the cage that once belonged to his linnet.

On the part of Elizabeth's mother, she did the right thing as any mother should. There was no doubt that she liked Reinhard to be Elizabeth's future husband. Their two families were very close. But she was apalled at Reinhard's lack of vision and his apparent neglect of his relationship with her daughter.

Then there was Eric who obviously showed special interest in Elizabeth. Eric was not a bad-looking person and he seemed more responsible than Reinhard. Much more when he inherited his father's estate. Any caring mother would like to see her daughter in good hands and in a financially stable environment before she would leave this world. So her decision to let Elizabeth marry Eric was the best decision for her. And she was proven right when it turned out that Eric was a very responsible husband and a good provider. But true love is not based on material abundance. True love is much more complicated to be based wholly on that.

Elizabeth's submission to her mother's wishes that she marry Eric was not an act of breach on her unspoken love covenant with Reinhard. Reinhard was the one who broke the covenant first. In fact, it showed Elizabeth's good upbringing especially during those times when obedience to parents is one of the most important virtues. And Elizabeth honored her vow to Eric even when love was not there. (This reminded me of Julia Ormond's role in the Legends of the Fall. Julia married Aidan Quinn but her heart belonged to Brad Pitt. But the analogy ended there for Julia took her own life in the end.)

Eric, on his part has some character flaws. He despised the poor, the working class and he has no respect of their culture, he has no regard of their heritage. But then, Eric was just a mere representative of his social class at that time.

But there was one admirable act that Eric did just to make Elizabeth happy. He invited Reinhard to his estate to see Elizabeth. Any ordinary husband could not do that. It seemed to be a good idea but in the end, everybody got hurt. Childhood memories that now seemed buried deep in the recesses of their subconsciousness were re-awakened. It was so painful for both Reinhard and Elizabeth who were now so physically close again but don't even have the slightest license to touch each other. So near yet so far. For Reinhard, Elizabeth was now like that white lily in the lake. So close to look at, yet the distance between them was so deep that he could not reach it even how hard he tried.

The death of Reinhard and Elizabeth's love relationship can be blamed on Reinhard alone. He took Elizabeth for granted. Sometimes, or in most cases, you will not realize the value of a thing or a person until that person or thing is lost from you. Unrequited love? Yes. Elizabeth's was. That was Reinhard's sin of omission. And he bore the load of his guilt even into his old age.