REACH YOUR IMPOSSIBLE DREAM!

6. 90 YEARS OLD DREAM

A true story by Elie Molly*

Kuningan, 10 November 2020

It has been months that I didn't write stories for my readers. My research papers have been making me so busy. I didn't know that Ph.D. life would be this hard. I believe that some universities in China apply more easy requirements for doctoral graduation, but my campus is rigorous; I should get at least three papers published in high-rank international journals before writing my dissertation, and that should be accomplished in only four years.

Nevertheless, actually, I'm writing not to tell you about the story of Ph.D. life that could make you bored. I want to tell you about something that probably will make you smile—a love story of an older man who found his soulmate at 90 years of age.

The older man is my grandfather.

Yes. Hehehe.

A long time ago, I wrote about my grandfather. But the story was a bit sad because grandpa was unlucky in love. After my beloved grandmother passed away due to heart illness, grandpa remarried a younger woman. The marriage lasted for many years until the woman suddenly asked for a divorce. She said to grandpa, "You are very old now; I don't want to take care of you anymore." She took my grandpa's money to buy her own house and lands in her faraway village. Then she left my grandpa in confusion and a broken heart. It was in 2015.

Five years later (which is this year), my grandpa, who has suffered emotionally and financially after a sudden divorce, finally found a new breath again. He found a woman of good heart. This woman works as a traditional doctor (someone who cures the patients by using herbal medicine). He approached her for three years until she agreed to get married to him.

When grandpa firstly said about his dream to remarry, my mother and the whole family were shocked. A man of his age should spend time praying instead of approaching a woman to remarry. My mother said to grandpa, "You are so old, you even can not walk fast due to old age, so how will you handle a woman?" But my grandpa never listens to anyone. Once he has a dream, he will not stop pursuing it until it happens. And now he proves that the woman he is married is a good woman for him, not a bad woman who will make him and my mother suffer like his runaway ex-wife.

Before the wedding, the woman said to my mother, "I don't need your father's money; I just want to take care of him, to make him pray again." We knew that this past year, my grandpa had not prayed anymore, and we were worried so much because the older man should be closer to God, but he was not. So, my mother and the whole family are happy hearing that the woman will try to motivate grandpa to be a better man.

My grandpa bought a gold ring, 24 carat, and 8 grams, as a dowry for his bride. My mother apologized to the bride, "I'm sorry my father can not give you a more precious dowry due to his financial condition." The bride said, "It is okay, 8 grams of gold ring is enough for me." My grandpa has been retired from his job as a government staff many years ago, and he gets a monthly pension salary, only enough for the daily needs of himself and his wife. Actually, he owns a big house in a village and some lands, but he can not cultivate the earth to make money from it due to his old age, and he is too lazy to pay workers for farming. Thus, he has not enough money to buy a more expensive dowry. He has no savings because his ex stole it. But the bride is okay with that. She also said to my mom, "I will not stay in your father's house; the house and the lands are for you to inherit. Let him stay in my house because I can not leave my house; you know I have a lot of patients come every day."

The goodness of her heart so touched my mother. She thanks Allah for giving an ideal soulmate to grandpa, and so do I. I am glad to see my mom happy. When my grandpa was in the previous marriage, his bad wife used to make tons of trouble and make my mother cried. Now my mom can feel relieved. She was worried that my grandpa would end up marrying a bad woman again, but now she has no reason to worry anymore. Alhamdulillah. For anyone who has a dream of finding a soulmate, never give up. True love will come to you at the right time that Allah decides for you. Maybe tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, or sometime later. It doesn't matter. Perhaps the friends of your age are already married, with babies, children, or even grandchildren...it is okay, everyone has a timezone. My grandpa had to wait until he is 90 years old to find his true love, but he proved that something worth having is worth waiting.

My grandpa's love story brought me a big smile between my uneasy days of dealing with journals and reviewers. Honestly, before knowing that his wife is a good woman, I hated my grandpa for getting married again in his ancient age, but now I'm grateful to Allah for giving him a good wife who will take care of him his old age. May Allah change my grandpa to be a better man through his new marriage. Ameen ya Rabb.

Another lesson of this story: grandpa stopped praying to Allah for a year, but look at how Allah treats him; instead of punishing him, He blessed him with a dream coming true. Therefore, we can imagine how Allah will treat us if we obey Him and never skip worshiping Him; much more abundant blessings will indeed be upon us, inshaa Allah.

Keep praying, keep hoping, and dare to dream. []

*Elie Molly, author of the book "Dare To Dream."

to connect with the author and know more about her books, visit:

https://eliemolly.wixsite.com/website