In a sleepless metropolitan city lived me, Bima. I am now 43 years old. I am a faithful husband and a responsible father. For 21 years, I dedicated myself wholeheartedly to a large company. But in 2023, a bitter reality struck my life.
Without clear warning, the company I worked for forced me to resign. The reason was simple yet painful: I had entered my forties. Not because my performance had declined or due to any grave mistake — just because my age was deemed no longer productive. It felt like decades of dedication were wiped away just like that. Sadness gnawed at my heart, yet I tried to stay strong in front of my family.
Fortunately, not long after, I was hired as a Store Manager at a Singaporean company that opened a fruit minimarket line in Jakarta. Hope began to flicker in my life again. But fate played another cruel trick on me. The company went bankrupt and closed its business, leaving me unemployed once more.
Being unemployed for three months was the hardest time of my life. My savings dwindled while the mortgage payments kept haunting my mind. To provide for my family, I worked as a warehouse staff at a restaurant. Sadly, the wage I earned was far below the minimum standard. Seeing this, my wife also started working, hoping to ease our burden.
But the trials didn’t stop there. Without any clear reason, my superior suddenly demoted me for personal reasons. Now, my salary was reduced to just two million rupiah. Every night, I would see my wife silently crying. Those tears cut deep into my heart, making me feel even more devastated.
I began to question this life. Why did everything feel so heavy since I got married? Everything seemed to go smoothly before marriage. But I knew giving up was not an option. I kept fighting, applying for jobs everywhere, while reassuring my wife that all of this would eventually pass.
In the stillness of the night, I often held my wife tightly, whispering that I would do whatever it takes to change our fate. Though pain and exhaustion weighed me down, I was determined to prove that the storm would pass, and happiness would once again grace my family.
