So basically I just want to share my story to you guys about my dad. How do I even start this... My dad's name is Alex. Well, his full name is Alexius Letlora. He has no middle name by the way. I'm still wondering how did my grandma find that heroic name of my dad. How she decided to name him 'Alexius'. It's an awesome to be honest and it's very unique. One day, when I grow up, I'm naming my son after my dad. Yep, that's a vow.
Anyway, about my dad... He was born in Surabaya on the 7th of April 1964 (yeah, go count by yourself about his age.) My dad's mom, aka my grandma raised him in a small house in Surabaya. My dad's dad, aka my grandpa was a policeman and it somehow excites me to see how dad is very proud of grandpa whenever he tells us stories about him. Point is, my dad wasn't raised in a rich family.
As a teenager, dad didn't have so many friends. In high school, he only had a few friends and sometimes he even had nobody to kept him company. Once he was graduated, he wanted to be a part of an army, but my grandma foreboded him so soon enough, he decided to be a student of a Theology University and learned everything to be a priest or minister or reverend or- you name it. Haha. Well, as a senior, he admitted himself that he was nothing but a troublemaker. He had so many funny stories back when he was in college. Like for example, he even bullied his juniors for some odd reason. Lol, don't you dare try this in college.
Well, that was my dad when he was still young.
Now let me just tell you my dad once he grew up as a man. He graduated from college in 1980s (I forgot the specific year, but it was in 80's.) He soon became a vicar and had to do his duty as a vicar in Makassar. He got a duty in a church in Makassar and he had to live in a house that was already determined. It was my mom's house. Well, shortly dad met mom and bam, love at first sight. How cute was that?
They started dating for at least a year and a half (or only a year? but yeah I guess a year, but something tells me they dated for a year and a half... OKAY WHATEVER. LET'S CARRY ON.) And the day finally came when dad proposed my mom, which I don't know how he did it. Right on the 16th of February 1991, they happily got married in GPIB Bukit Zaitun Makassar.
I found out that once my dad did this kind of ritual before the wedding, he threw his fist in the air and shouted "YES!!!" because he was finally be able to call my mom his wife. I found it very cute and sweet. I wonder if my future husband would do such thing in the future hahaha. Well, he sure had his own happy ending, but that didn't last long.
You see, my parents got married and my mom had a miscarriage... TWICE. Which got my parents very upset. But hey, they didn't give up. In fact, they kept praying and they tried out to have a child and WOWZA HERE I AM AS THE FIRST DAUGHTER. I was born in 1996. My parents have waited for five years for a child and I was happy that they have been expecting me. God is always good, isn't He?
Not just me. A year later in 1997, my sister Kezia was born healthy and perfectly fine. Of course my parents were very thankful to have two children in the family. AND two years later in 1999, my lil brother Andrew was born. Our presence in the world had been waited by our parents and when my mom told me everything about the miscarriages, I was encouraged to do anything to make my parents proud of me. I knew my parents had a breakdown about the miscarriages- I mean, DUDE my mom had a miscarriage twice and it sure left a painful pang in her heart. But once I was born, along with my siblings, I knew my parents had been expecting us, so that was why I had the need to make my parents happy and proud of me, well not just me, but us (me and my siblings. lol)
Okay, so let's go back focussing on my dad. Once he finally had a family, he felt proud of himself. He would do anything to stick up together with all of us as a family. He's a very protective figure of a father. He raised his children very VERY well. He taught us manners and how to be a good reverend's kids. Yeah, I soon realized that I was a reverend's daughter when I was ten. Being a reverend's daughter is... Well, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's kind of unpleasant. (Sorry dad, I'm just trying to be honest.)
The good side is, everyone knows you because of your dad. That's the fact. For example, I was in Church with my mom and siblings because apparently dad was on his duty to preach. When it was finished, a woman suddenly pulled me into a hug and she was like "Oh my goodness! Look at you now! You've grown up!" and I honestly had no idea who she was, but i got along with and just nodded and mumbled some polite words, agreeing on what she said. Well, yeah that's how Linkan Letlora reacts to someone who knows her but she doesn't even know them. People also see me as a good two shoes little girl. They see me as a one innocent birdie. Truth is, I'm kind of innocent.
The unpleasant side? I can't do anything, I mean anything any teenaged girl would like to do. I mean, sure I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I don't go around and find boys and date them immediately. I'm not a cheap girl. I can't do anything, as in I can't hang out as much as I can with my friends. I can't go to a party like a legit party with my friends (except if my dad knows which friend held the party, other than that, it was a big no for me to go.) Yeah, my dad is a one protective guy.
He also had his own dating rules for me. "You have to date a Christian boy and I don't want you to date some troublemaker, smoker, and all that kind of boy. Make sure he does the first move, not you. Also, you have to tell me right away once you have a boyfriend, because I don't like it if my daughter hides her own relationship behind her parents. Got it?" he once said sternly, making me scared. I nodded, understanding what he said. Yep, that's my dad people, that's my dad.
My dad is the best priest or reverend or minister or- okay fine you name it. He earned his money just by preaching and spreading good things about Jesus Christ. I actually love his job and I even thought about being a priest, but you see... I'm bad in my religion class. -_- Sorry daddy. He met various of famous people because of his job. Who said being a priest is only about talking and preaching and talking? No. Being a priest is harder than you thought. My dad had to stay up late every night to prepare everything for his preach. He once got sick because he didn't sleep all day long. I really do appreciate his hard work only for us, his family.
Oh my gosh I can't believe I'm crying right now.
His success as a priest got some people jealous of him. Some people actually tried to get on his way and my dad, being a patient man himself, didn't do anything to hurt them. "Let them do what they do. We'll see how will they end up soon." he kept saying that with a slight smirk on his face. Yep, that Reverend Alexius Letlora to you bad people. Don't you dare try to get into my dad's way because you will see soon what will karma do to you. You'll just have to wait and see.
Until now, thankfully nothing bad had happened to our family. I will never let bad things happen to the Letloras. All I need to do right now is focus on how to make my parents happy and proud, that's my life goal (of course meeting Justin Bieber is too, but that's number two on my list.) Especially my dad, because he had sacrificed so many things to us, his family. He had done a lot of things only to make us happy. I have to do something in return, by making him proud. I look up to him, a lot. He's an inspiration to me and I'm proud to call him my dad. OKAY THESE TEARS NEED TO BE WIPED LIKE SERIOUSLY.
