1st Gift From Heaven

She was born the smallest among her siblings. The 1st born grandchild from her maternal and paternal grandparents that comes from a mixed parentage, a Batak-Dusun Lotud from her father and a Bajau-Brunei-Dayak blood from her mother.

We named her Nur Sabrina Azra Sitorus, yes, quite a mouthful, means literally the light of my patience and the daughter of Sitorus.

Sabrina was born on 28 July 1993, 2 days ahead than schedule in the Island of Labuan, a tiny bundle of joy that was delivered via the C-section. I have blamed this delivery much to the absence of our parents to guide us through this most frightful yet amazing experience in our lifetime, a child born from her parents' strength of love towards each other.

During her early months, she was being cared for by her maternal grandmother. We were forced to leave her behind when we returned to our work commitment at the island. Leaving her after the confinement period is the most heart wrenching moments of our life. We endured this dark period as we do not trust a babysitter to do the job. We just could not see any other than our blood and kin to take care of her. Our life spiral topsy turvy onwards and the only comfort we had was to play her recorded cries and laughter.

...Sabrina Sitorus @ Kakak Long

15 years later, she has grown into a beautiful young lady, inheriting a long list of traits from her parents. Our pride and joy, our beautiful gift from heaven.

Do forgive a mother's pride but as the saying goes, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", unfortunately rings true.