O Sailor!

Oom Edwin Stube remains a mystery. Ever wonder what brought him here. don't recall much of him though, don't recall of meeting him. i only remembered several emails he sent me. he promised to send me some books. but the books never arrived because he passed away. our correspondence was a short one. and too bad usa.net closed its free service long long ago that all my correspondence got deleted.

now each time i opened that old old photo album, i'd ask mi, when was it? was he pleased with your cut? Mi would laugh, "Not sure, son. this photo embarrasses me. look at it!"

in the picture, Mi is cutting his graying hair with her right hand and her left palm rests on his head, preventing the hair on right side from being combed to the left direction. it looks as if Mi is anointing his head. That's impolite, Mi, i'd say. and we'd end up laughing. perhaps that was in 1991, his last visit to Indonesia (?).

many stories i heard of him are all "one day" stories. Pak Wilfried told this story: "One day, that yellow Kijang ran out of gas. He prayed and filled the tank with water. then he drove home." wow! Pak Darto said, "One day, sick and handicapped people flocked here and got healed miraculously after meeting him." wow!

and my late Oom Alex Tuarita said, "One day, Oom Stube said, Let's drink (beer) Alex! it's good for your health." Oom Alex told me, laughing, "Thee idea of drinking beer shocked me to death, thinking it was ungodly." wow and lol!

Who ever thinks he was also an accomplished musician. he left his accordion as the witness. remembering him now can rekindle this rusty restless soul. and my anger subsides. i learn to see things from a different point of view.

One song reminds me of him. i been listening to it recently. Sailor by Petula Clark. Good heavens, i know this tune well! since kindergarten i've knowned it! every time i play it, it takes me back to the big dining room where people hum the melody.  I think Oom Stube owes me an explanation. who else taught them the melody?

now i know the original lyric:

Sailor, stop your roaming
Sailor, leave the sea
Sailor, when the tide turns
Come home safe to me

As you sail across the sea
All my love is there beside you
In Capri or Amsterdam
Honolulu or Siam
To the harbour of my heart
I will send my love to guide you
As I call across the sea
Come home to me...


Ok let me play the song once more. And here's to your memory, Oom Stube!