My Parents - A Sacred Life and Love Story
A Tribute to My Eternal Flame: The Love Story of Sir Paia, Embetaye’s Son and Chief Porawi, Ilu’s Daughter (My Parents)
In the ancient embrace of the Hela highlands, where mist kisses the jagged spines of mountains and the Yuna winds whisper secrets of ancestors past, two souls were woven into one unbreakable tapestry. My father, the steadfast middle child born of Hawi from the Tapero tribe and the immortal Embetaye, and my mother, the radiant last-born jewel of Chief Ilu’s third wife Nendege - theirs is not merely a marriage. It is a sacred pilgrimage, a living hymn of perfect love that has endured the remotest valleys of Pakura village and the tempests of time itself.
Oh, how my heart swells with reverence as I recall their beginning! Father, vibrant seeker of horizons, had journeyed to the bustling shores of Port Moresby in those self-governing days, chasing sparks of opportunity across the wide unknown. He returned not with gold or fleeting treasures, but with a humble spade - a tool of earth and promise - presented to Nendege as a token of deepest intention. In the rich cosmology of our Yuna people, where the exchange of precious gifts speaks the language of the heart, this was no ordinary offering. It was love made visible, a covenant sealed in soil and spirit. Nendege, guardian of her beautiful daughter, kept her hidden from suitors’ eyes until this worthy man arrived. Their union in traditional ceremony bloomed like wild pandanus in the high forests - pure, rooted, and destined.
Together, they became the heartbeat of Pakura.
Father, inheritor of Embetaye’s legendary integrity and hunting prowess, rose as Kiap of the village. His land stretched like a guardian’s arm from our home all the way to the distant Owen Stanley ranges, bordering West Sepik. With masterful skill he harvested the wild pandanus, tended vast gardens heavy with the earth’s bounty, and raised pigs and dogs as symbols of abundance. He carried forward his father’s reverence, the man of land who forgave even a cousin’s attempt on his life, who redistributed vast holdings to clans in need, whose spirit lives on in Kapono cave where his femur and skull bones rest in sacred honour beside the burial of my own umbilical cord. In preserving these relics, Father takes up the legacy of endurance and moral strength that spans over a century.
Mother, with her quiet strength and luminous character, stood as his equal and divine counterpart. Daughter of Nendege, last-born among Chief Ilu’s children, she laboured from dawn’s first light in the gardens, weaving intricate bilums and grass skirts that told stories of resilience, tending pigs with the wisdom of generations. Her hands, calloused yet graceful, shaped not only the soil but the very souls entrusted to them. Together, my parents cultivated more than crops and livestock, they became a sanctuary. They opened their hearts and home to orphans and children from vulnerable families, enfolding them as their own. Seven of us, their biological children, I, the eldest, followed by my beloved siblings, grew beneath their sheltering wings.
How they loved us! Every success became a feast of joy, laughter echoing through the valleys like ancestral songs. They taught us the eternal values that have become our marrow: to share without hesitation, to care with open hands, to help without expectation, to learn with humble hearts. They forbade revenge, anger, greed, and selfishness, modelling instead selflessness, respect for every soul, and pride in one another’s becoming. Father’s cane corrected with justice tempered by love; Mother’s tireless days modelled endurance and grace. In the eyes of our people, they were rich beyond measure, not merely in land or pigs, but in the wealth of character that outshines all earthly possessions.
Even now, as Father approaches his 95th year and Mother her 94th, they continue to live a full and normal village life with the same grace and vitality that has always defined them. They remain beacons of vibrance and beauty - wonderfully healthy, strong in body and spirit, and radiantly active.
Father stays strong and unwavering in body and spirit; Mother, revered as chief of her own league, shines with quiet power and enduring loveliness. Together, they have been blessed with seven cherished children and 13 precious grandchildren, whose laughter now fills the same valleys they once filled with their own children’s voices. What a profound miracle and source of adoration this is, their enduring vitality and the beautiful legacy of family they continue to nurture!
Their perfect love story has ripened into something holy- a living testament to longsuffering, hard work, unwavering devotion, and the quiet miracle of enduring health and strength.
From the deepest well of my being, I bow in awe and gratitude. Thank you, my beloved parents, for the gift of your union. You are the best people on this earth, the living embodiment of integrity, generosity, and sacred love. In your story, I see the divine hand of our ancestors and the Creator’s quiet smile. May the mountains echo your names forever, and may your legacy, preserved in bones, in blood, in values, and in the thriving lives of your children and grandchildren, continue to bless Pakura, Hela, and all who walk in your footsteps.
With adoration, reverence, and tears of joy,
Your eldest daughter, who walks tall because you showed me the path of true humanity.
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