Fireproof

Fireproof
Sunday August 28, 2011
By: Gina Yoryet Roman


An unexpected yet long awaited call on Monday made me reminiscence my late teenage years when I had recently parted High School and partying and pulling all nighters (every single Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) were my first and foremost priority.

Being a very disoriented rebel without a real cause I wasn’t too fond of school so dropping out of College was my “only” choice to split my time between a part time waitressing job and modeling part time at Bellisima models.

Serving people in the late 1990’s was something to get quite some fun out of because I met many interesting people;
Youngsters my age, hot guys, married couples, senior citizens, etc, but there was one specific group that was very pleasant to work with; the community of Oakmont in Santa Rosa California, just 55 miles north of San Francisco.

Sunday was a day to always look forward to because I always had a chance to see and chat with older people. Interacting with older people is something I’ve always enjoyed because they are full of wisdom,they have already crossed all the roadblocks and learned from life, they have endless interesting stories to tell and they’ve taught me many important lessons.

It was then and there that I met two of the most beloved people in my journey; Hal and Mary Lou White who became my adoptive grandparents. I recall one morning while serving them, he noticed the fatigued and worn out expression on my face. He must’ve taught, “what is this creature doing with her life?” As he held my hand he said to me, “Georgette (the way he has always spelled my name) you are a natural born teacher, why are you wasting your time waitressing?”

It would’ve been too rude and disrespectful to laugh so I replied instead, “Really? You think so?” And it was left at that. My disgust of books and school was not expressed.

Many people will say things to you and they will go in one ear and come out through the other but the comment about me being a “natural born Teacher” was something that always stuck to my mind and somewhere along the line, I forced my stubborn self to go back to school and actually enjoy it.

Yet the most important advice Hal has always given me even to this day is the importance of finding one’s soul mate and commiting to that person forever because marriage is not something to play with.

He said“Pumpkin,” (His nickname for Mary Lou) was his High School sweet heart, from the moment they met they instantly fell in love, they got married shortly after High School and became one for eternity, till the end of time, till death does them apart.

Many years ago this topic didn’t interest me in the least but the more time goes by, the more I can see and understand why their marriage became resistant to absolutely everything. They overcame every single minor obstacle because their love has been greater than anything else.

That love has been the most powerful force in the universe even to this day that Pumpkin is in a rest home because of what that wicked “Señora Fortuna” had been holding in her hands all along.

Three years ago Mary Lou came down with Alzheimer’s and she hasn’t been able to recover. Her mental condition only deteriorates minute after minute, every day her life is slowly slipping out of her hands. She can’t even talk or recognize anyone anymore.

When I talked to Hal on Monday, he was in tears, I could sense the solitude in his soul and the emptiness in his heart and I was speechless. Instead of being of any help, I cried my guts out with him...
for him...
for them. I was angry and felt useless because finding the answer to their problem is not within my reach and I DETEST being out of control and unable to decipher life’s fate.

As for me, I am certain of one thing…
I will never commit to anyone for the wrong reasons, the older I get, the more convinced I am that emotional, spiritual or any type of failure are NOT a choice. .
As we get older our mistakes can bend and break us temporarily but I like to think that they will teach us a lesson and forge us
into better and more committed and loving people.

If “Señora Fortuna” is holding a happy ending (with my soulmate) for me, I would like that union to be fireproof till the end of time.