Sentimental Journeys

At a time when despair became your friend and hope your enemy, you had nothing left in life. Nothing. Slogging away at the sink, burning at the stove, and ploughing through the heaps of laundry. What did all this bring?

In the hope of a better future, I moved to the UK with my daughter after 12 years of separation. My husband and I married back in 1980 in Bangladesh. After our wedding, he came back to England and applied to the British embassy for visas for us to come and join him. I waited for that all important letter to arrive so I can begin my life as a married woman. As much as I loved my in laws, I could not wait till I had my own home, where it was just us. Me, my husband, and our daughter. Just the three of us. Just US.

I used to call the post office every week. “Any news from the embassy?” “No” was the reply. I used to write to my husband every month, but I did not get any response. He wrote to his brother and his mother, not me. I had too many questions that needed answers. Who could I ask? Not knowing what is happening is one great way to lose one’s sanity. How can one remain calm when they did not know what fate might bring?

Unfortunately, the embassy took its sweet time. Needless to say, the long distant relationship began to weigh down on me, caused my heart to pine every single moment of the day. I looked up at the sky and I saw a heavy cloud about to burst open the floodgates of heaven.