it's easy to forget what happened on this island a little more than a year ago when you're an american. it's amazing how we can turn our worries and our hearts off with the flip of a switch. if we decide we've seen too much, we just turn off the TV.
but the people here aren't so lucky. and they haven't forgotten the "big wave" that swept over this tiny crescent of sand. they have stories to tell.
the woman in the massage shop who lost her husband told me her story. she grabbed my wrist and pulled me to her and made a swirling motion with our bodies. it was as if we were tumbling in the sea. two people together. but when the wave receeded she was alone. her husband didn't make it.
or the french man who came to this island one last time to put the images of bodies lined up on the beach out of his mind, forever. he can't seem to forget. the smell, the dead pregnant woman, the lives that ended here. so he came to put those old ghosts to rest. but can any of us put those ghosts to rest?
some thai people won't even come to phi phi island. they think it's full of ghosts. they're right, i can feel them.
truth is, i guess i have some old ghosts of my own.
when the other masseuse told jana that she ran up the mountain to escape the tsunami and said in thai, "on the mountain, thai people and foreigners we all the same, we all cry. everyone was the same up on the mountain" i wondered...where did all the ghosts go?
and are they all the same?
6 comments:
3887043Dear Amanda I cry when I read your message.I have forgoten what happened a year ago, I turned if off and moved on. Thank you for making me remember and thank you for making me say a prayer of thanks for my family and a prayer for all the lost lives and their familys.I can't wait to hear all about your trip and I am very thankful you will be home today. Love Mom
oh amanda, this is a beautiful beautiful post. i will never forget those stories.
amanda....my dear. i hope you arrived home safely. we have so enjoyed hearing your stories from thailand. i want to hear MORE - because it is sometimes hard to get perspective without going far away. but your perspective it is as refreshing as a breeze on a 90 degree day, and your eloquence only makes it sweeter. thank you for sharing! hope to see you very soon. ~tia
amanda jane.
will you start writing a column? maybe you could call it, "amanda and the city!" hehehehehee....
i love reading up on your stories and observations. i can't wait to just sit and listen to you tell about the ways of thailand. i think you, matty, tia, souli, silo, me and jeremy should get together for a picnic and thai talk in the next couple weeks.
welcome home, dear.
meg
Peggy is right, we just get to turn it off and forget it all.
I remember watching videos on the net - the ones that were too bad to show on TV - of people being swept away, literally torn from the hands of their loved ones. The looks on their faces isn't one you see often.
Amanda..will you ever post again? Also call me cause I lost your phone number! My phone DIED.
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