Tag Archives: Grandparents

Double Happiness

14 Mar

Double happiness is when two people discover each other for a lifetime together. Double happiness also means during the wedding, the extended families can gather merrily for a happy celebration.

Two nights ago, my nephew tied the knot. Congratulations to him and his beautiful bride! My heart is bursting with love for the newest member of our family!

It was a heartfelt, joyous occasion for everyone present. The younger twin of my only sibling is now a married man and will be starting his family soon. There was so much love and affection throughout the Chinese tea ceremony, which was steep in tradition. A boisterous close family affair that morning.

Then the wedding dinner that night was equally a heartfelt and joyous occasion for the family. I was ecstatic when I reconnected with my cousins again, having not seen them for ages. It was such a nostalgic trip down memory lane as we caught up, reminisced, squealed, and giggled like teenagers until we teared up about the growing-up years with our grandpa around.

Grandpa was the center of our universe, but there was so much fear in us whenever we visited him and Grandma. Nonetheless, my cousins and I have happy childhood memories. Now only our memories remind us because, during the dinosaur era, smartphones to record every moment did not exist yet. Today, the wedding is a memory filed away but captured in print, video, and almost everyone’s smartphones.

As I have said, there was double happiness for everyone during the wedding dinner – not just for the newlyweds but for all the aunts and uncles meeting up again. Many a time, I felt emotionally moved to see the elderlies hugging each other affectionately and catching up, something we all could not do, especially during the peak of Covid. It takes a happy occasion to reconnect with everybody again. And it takes a pandemic to reevaluate the importance of family and being in touch.

A cousin lamented that the clan should not meet only for weddings and, sadly, at times, for funerals, but it should be more frequent now that there are no longer lockdowns and restrictions. Time is precious, likewise family members and our extended families too.

As such, efforts are underway to spur the next generation of cousins to get to know each other better and ensure their bond grows, just like it has been for my cousins and me. As for the newlyweds, a toast to their happiness and the start of a beautiful life together.

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A Leisurely Drive

28 Dec

The goodbyes were swift and short. We left at ten to fill up the petrol tank before hitting the highway. Traffic was not that heavy and you could say it was a leisurely drive.

It’s always nice to drive past the paddy fields

I took another painkiller, this time more for the headache developing from the lack of sleep and not for the endometriosis pain which subsided. It’s going to be a long day and I didn’t want to be in any discomfort throughout the journey.

We decided to go to Matang for seafood porridge instead of crab porridge at Nibong Tebal. And it was worth the detour, Matang being further from the highway compared to Nibong Tebal.

Satisfying loaded seafood porridge

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Hats Off, Part 2

6 May

Two weeks ago when I played golf with the octogenarian, it made me think of my maternal grandpa. I don’t have many octogenarian friends and people of this age usually reminds me of the grandpas and grandmas of the world who should be sitting at home comfortably instead of out on a golf course.

Now my grandpa was one cool dude (grandma was the worrier) but he was also a scary one, at least for me when I was younger.

I remember I used to follow Mom to visit the old folks whenever opportunity came around. And it was always, always customary to go greet him before anything else. This scared me the most because he would be sitting at his usual recliner with the fan on at full blast, playing his cards, and I had to go interrupt his concentration to basically say, hi grandpa, I am here.

And he would look up from his cards, squint his eyes and peer at me. It was terrifying as I had to stand there, fidgeting until he acknowledged my presence. Then when he realized it was me, he would tell me to come closer and without fail, pinch my nose and cheeks to no end! Ouch. Painful and I was not allowed to yelp. This was my greet grandpa routine. Some things you remember for life and this was one of them. Every single visit, this treatment.

After the ritual, I was off the hook and then only to grandma I would go or out to see the chickens, the dogs or just hang out around the house.

Mom always said that I have good cheeks and a pert nose today because of grandpa’s loving touches. Hats off to grandpa, a brandy and whiskey-swishing dude, who lived life to the fullest until the ripe old age of 97. When he passed on, it was a celebration of life instead of death. God bless his soul. 

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