I woke up feeling blessed today.
It's Father's Day and already my family back home had been abuzz since I dedicated a story to my Pa in last week's Starmag.
(If you missed it, here's the link:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2011/6/12/lifefocus/8849264&sec=lifefocus)
How often do you get the chance to tell the world about how your parent's contributions made you who you are today? My father was very cool about it though- he just laughed it off, saying that it is 'just another one of my daughter's stories- and you do know she's tells good stories, don't you?'.
I feel lucky to have come from a complete family, with both parents around, a good relationship with all my siblings and more. The irony is that I didn't always feel this way. I grew up feeling (or rather griping) about how dysfunctional our family is, with a stepmother who doesn't think and speak the same language, a father who keeps siding her, a grandmother who fanned the flames while she lived.
The worse was when the family almost fell apart because of my marriage to a non-Chinese. My father had said then he regretted marrying my stepmom because 'two keys in a pocket tend to clang', meaning my natural mom would probably have been more understanding if she was still around.
Today, I thank God they had not fallen apart because of me, because my stepmom takes care of my father really well, far better than we will ever do (even far better than the way we care for our husbands).
Maybe you see the world differently after the age of 40. Maybe it's being a mum. Maybe it's because I've seen much worse scenarios of broken families in my line of work that I now know our family is more 'normal' than I used to think.
Then there's the editors who agreed to run my story, the PR fellas who didn't disagree when I proposed my story, the photographer who saw to things even though I wasn't present to give directions on what kind of shot I wanted for my story. In a nutshell, it all turned out beautifully, as it should.
Makes me wonder how many of our kids will be paying us tribute 20 years down the line. I'm not sure if we're getting it right with the kiddoes now- but I do hope that simply trying is good enough, as opposed to sitting around and hoping that it will happen automatically. Society today is unlike that before- and I'm not confident they will turn out right without proper guidance, the way we did in the past.
My Pa said he really didn't do much...in a way it's true. All he did was to be there when we needed him. That alone was good enough for us back then. Would the same apply for our kids today? I really don't know.
All I know is that life is good, alhumdulilah. There's more to look forward to. Can't wait!
It's Father's Day and already my family back home had been abuzz since I dedicated a story to my Pa in last week's Starmag.
(If you missed it, here's the link:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2011/6/12/lifefocus/8849264&sec=lifefocus)
How often do you get the chance to tell the world about how your parent's contributions made you who you are today? My father was very cool about it though- he just laughed it off, saying that it is 'just another one of my daughter's stories- and you do know she's tells good stories, don't you?'.
I feel lucky to have come from a complete family, with both parents around, a good relationship with all my siblings and more. The irony is that I didn't always feel this way. I grew up feeling (or rather griping) about how dysfunctional our family is, with a stepmother who doesn't think and speak the same language, a father who keeps siding her, a grandmother who fanned the flames while she lived.
The worse was when the family almost fell apart because of my marriage to a non-Chinese. My father had said then he regretted marrying my stepmom because 'two keys in a pocket tend to clang', meaning my natural mom would probably have been more understanding if she was still around.
Today, I thank God they had not fallen apart because of me, because my stepmom takes care of my father really well, far better than we will ever do (even far better than the way we care for our husbands).
Maybe you see the world differently after the age of 40. Maybe it's being a mum. Maybe it's because I've seen much worse scenarios of broken families in my line of work that I now know our family is more 'normal' than I used to think.
Then there's the editors who agreed to run my story, the PR fellas who didn't disagree when I proposed my story, the photographer who saw to things even though I wasn't present to give directions on what kind of shot I wanted for my story. In a nutshell, it all turned out beautifully, as it should.
Makes me wonder how many of our kids will be paying us tribute 20 years down the line. I'm not sure if we're getting it right with the kiddoes now- but I do hope that simply trying is good enough, as opposed to sitting around and hoping that it will happen automatically. Society today is unlike that before- and I'm not confident they will turn out right without proper guidance, the way we did in the past.
My Pa said he really didn't do much...in a way it's true. All he did was to be there when we needed him. That alone was good enough for us back then. Would the same apply for our kids today? I really don't know.
All I know is that life is good, alhumdulilah. There's more to look forward to. Can't wait!
