I remember the day I spent a morning with Lolo Alf when he was still alive. Every morning he started his day with a cup of coffee. He enjoyed every sip of his hot black coffee while happily staring the sun rise from the balcony.
One time, my friend Arjay and I went to a party and stayed there until 10pm. We were drunk but not that bad, we realized that it was already late. We decided to go home. I asked one of our peers to accompany us and call a taxi for us. It was 11pm when we arrived to Arjay’s house. Too dizzy and exhausted I decided to have a sleep over. I paid a call to my mom to let her know my plan. The next day, I woke up early. I saw Lolo Alf doing a stretching. “Good morning Lolo Alf.” I greeted, he smiled at me in return and continuo his morning ritual. “I’m done.” He shouted. I looked at him while walking directly to stair. Even before he made his first step down the stair he asked something. “Do you want a cup of coffee?” “Sure, thanks.” I replied. He went straight to the kitchen and make coffee for to of us. After a minute or two he went up while handling cups of coffee with both hands. He gave me he other and invited me to view the sunrise form the balcony.We viewed the sun rising. It is beautiful scenery; it was peaceful and very relaxing. You can hear the bird singing while wind was refreshing. The smell of the coffee’s aroma and the morning breeze was a perfect match. I stared Lolo Alf, he was smiling while staring at the neighborhood, enjoying his cup of coffee. Took a sip on my cup, it surprised me, because the coffee was tasteless. Thinking maybe Lolo Alf forgot to put sugar on my coffee. I criticized the coffee that Lolo Alf made for me. I was not impressed. Lolo Alf noticed that something was bothering me. “Don’t you like the coffee?” he asked curiously. “No, I like it. It’s good, actually its great.” I replied but deep inside of me I criticizing it. I lied to him, having a thought of I might hurt or insult him. He looked at me with a teasing look. To proved him that what I said is true I continuo sipping my coffee. I struggled sipping to that sugarless coffee only to discovered un-dissolved crystals sitting at the bottom waiting to be mixed. I was surprised, realizing how stupid I am. I was criticizing somebody and lie to Lolo Alf with my own stupidity. I was amazed with the scenery that I forgot to mix my coffee. Lolo Alf noticed my burden. “Is there any problem?” he asked. I was too ashamed to answer because of what I’ve done.I told Lolo Alf all of my thoughts and also my stupidity. He laughed at me, he laugh his heart out. “Don’t be ashamed of your self, to be honest I already knew it. I noticed that you didn’t mix your coffee but I didn’t tell you that your have to mix you coffee first.” He said. I felt I was betrayed by Lolo Alf when he admitted it. I never knew that it was all part of his plan. He explained his thoughts and made me realized something.
Lolo Alf’s thought:
“Life is like having a cup of coffee. Sitting by the window or staring sunrise from the balcony, lift the cup and take a sip only to realized that somebody forgot to put the sugar. Too lazy to go for it, thinking that it was somebody’s fault, you somehow struggle through that sugarless cup of coffee until you discovered un-dissolved sugar crystals sitting at bottom. That’s how life is; we sometimes forget to make an effort to value what is around us. We even put the blame to others laziness and ignorance. Look around, pay some effort on everything you’re in, maybe the sweetness you are looking for is closer than you could imagine.”