Keily, the Bookworm Part-Final

Amid her hectic life, Keily started to feel morning sickness almost every day. What could be wrong? Did she develop allergies to anything?

She skipped work one day, taking leave and visited the doctor’s clinic. They had various tests on her and finally concluded that she was pregnant.

It took up Keily by surprise. Her first instinct was to call her husband on her brand new cell phone and give him the news.

“Wow!” remarked Shakhil. “I am proud to become a father soon. Take good care. Did they give you medication to fight off the morning sickness?”

“Yes, but I doubt it will work on me”, said Keily in a worried tone.

“Okay, Keily”, said Shakhil. “I will hear more of this when I come back home.”

“All right”, said Keily, “I understand you are busy. Let’s talk in the evening about this.”

Keily started to worry a lot. She had a career to take care of. When the baby would be born, she would have to take care of it also. “How do I find a work/life balance?”

She could wait no longer. She called back home and talked to her original family about her problem.

Natalie spoke up. She could come with a tourist visa and give her a hand for six months. Then she had to return home and apply for undergraduate studies in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at UCLA, her interest being oriented towards Physics and Mathematics. She would apply for a scholarship, and if she got the opportunity, she would like to study at UCLA for four years, living in an on-campus apartment.

Keily agreed, and that was what followed. Keily’s daughter was born, and Natalie came just in time to give her a helping hand. She appeared in TOEFL and GRE and stayed for six months, looking after the baby. She filed up an application for undergraduate studies in her chosen program at UCLA.

As promised, after six months, Natalie went back home. After another six months, she earned an I-20 from UCLA along with a good scholarship, got a student visa from the American Embassy and came back to LA to attend her studies at UCLA.

In her free, idle times, Natalie would walk to Keily’s home and help her with the growing baby. Keily was most grateful to Natalie for all her care and love for her baby daughter.

After four years of hard work and immense perspiration, Natalie earned her B.Sc degree in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at UCLA. Now she started looking for jobs. Unlike Keily, Natalie wasn’t interested in higher education. She preferred to work in the industry. She applied to various industry sectors, specific to her degree, skills and interest.

Finally, her fate clicked, and she got a job in the AT&T branch in Pennsylvania. She moved to this state and joined work. Within a year, she met the man of her dreams and made plans to wed this man. He worked in the same AT&T branch.

Natalie sent wedding invitation cards to Keily’s family and her Mom back home. They were all happy for her and congratulated her warmly for the milestones she had covered so far.

Natalie’s wedding was arranged in a community center in Pennsylvania. She invited close friends and colleagues as well. Keily, along with family, enjoyed her ceremony thoroughly, and so did her Mom who came from Dhaka.

After two days’ rest in a nearby hotel, Keily and family, along with Mom, traveled back to LA. Keily took good care of her Mom, serving her good meals by cooking despite her full-fledged work at the university. In the evenings, she took her daughter and Mom for a stroll around the block. Mom left after a few days, regaining energy and strength. She promised to give her daughters a visit every six months. And they were extremely happy about her deal.

Keily started writing an academic book on Databases. Within six months, she had it completed, proofread many times after which she had copies published and made them available in both online and offline bookstores. She had great success with it. There were innumerable raving reviews that said the book was easy to understand and the basics and foundation of the book made their concepts of Databases crystal clear.

As her well-written and on-demand Database book was so popular and helped thousands of people, the university decided to surprise her by giving her a raise in salary.

It was Keily’s turn to feel moved and be full of joy.

“You deserve it, Keily”, assured the chairperson.

“Thank you so much”, replied Keily, weeping in complete gratitude.

Shakhil was extremely happy for Keily. In the evening when he returned, he handed her a bouquet of roses and kissed her.

Shakhil whispered, “You will always be my sunshine. It encourages me to work harder at my office. You are a great wife and mother as well- remember that.”

Keily’s daughter came running towards her parents. She embraced her Dad with affection. Father and daughter were especially close.

Their daughter, Sheila had been going to a Day Care Center nearby their home after Natalie had taken care of her for the first six months.

Now Sheila was five years old and still went to the Day Care Center. She was well-behaved, talked in a good language and was smart in her movements just like Keily. Teachers and caregivers at the Day Care Center appreciated Sheila very much.

Keily had plans to admit her to a primary school nearby as soon as she would turn six.

Epilogue

Life didn’t stay standstill but went on and on. I have come near to the end of the closing chapter. I have always imagined and pictured a girl like Keily all my life and therefore, the birth of this glamorous story.

What is significant about Keily is that she did make the most of her life- earning an honorable P.hD., choosing her most compatible life partner, finding her life purpose (teaching and researching), raising a family and catering to the needs of her beautiful and growing daughter.

Keily got everything out of her life that she had ever bargained for. Only her Dad was not there to see how far she had come. Her dear old Daddy would have been so very happy and would have considered her priceless indeed!

Previous Related Article

Keily, the Bookworm Part-27

Keily and Shakhil shift to LA on the 13th of June, 2004. Keily’s work begins on the 20th of the month. Shakhil also starts to work. Keily’s Mom and Natalie travel to LA in the next month of July. Shakhil’s brother and family also come from Houston. Finally, Keily and Shakhil get married happily. To read more, click the above title.

© 2020 Rosina S Khan