Wednesday, January 28, 2009

of new bonds and broken ties

chinese new year used to be so different, esp when i was still in primary school, and sis was barely a teenager. we would stay over for 3 or 4 days at my late grandpa's mega huge house in jb, stuff our faces with goodies without having to worry about putting on weight, wake up in the wee hours of the morning to cycle around the spacious frontyard, and on a few occasions drive up to penang to visit our godma/eldest aunt and have steamboat/ laksa together.

times have changed. instead of playing hide-and-seek, meddling with firecrackers and any sort of furniture we can find in the house, i watch my little cousins work their little fingers at bullet-train speed on their PSPs (yea they have one EACH). instead of eating at the same restaurant where the maternal side of the family has patronised for the past 20 years, my little family of four would either take a short getaway trip somewhere, or have our own mini reunion dinner without the relatives. uncles and aunties would have their "own plans" as well.

i miss my grandpa. a lot. he was like the glue that held everyone together. i always thought it's really heartwarming to belong to a huge extended family that spans over 4 generations. but things happen and people drift apart. and somehow i believed that if grandpa was still around he would keep things in order and draw us together. everyone has utmost respect for our surviving grandma but i can see, from the persistent empty look in her eyes and the way she talks about grandpa today, that she also knows without grandpa it would always seem like something's missing, something's lacking somewhere. the way it has been for the past 3 years.

but i cherish the new bonds that came and are coming my way.

thank you for being family :)

by exalted! at 2:22 pm |