I’ve Much To Recall This New Year
I was this close to falling asleep after quite a long day (though 12PM to 2AM isn’t very long haha I’m deluding myself) and my brother asked me to look at my cousin’s FB photo album with those old photos and…
Was. Mindblown.
Since I never laid eyes on these old photos (which is why good photos must be developed or they’ll be gone in a click of the “delete” button).
First on the old-photos list:
My aunt and uncle during their dating days. All so pui-ti and hum-sum when young! Not saying that they’re not now, but now I know why so many people are obsessed with anti-aging.
My grandma carrying my eldest paternal cousin (表哥 – why English don’t make the gender divide clearer) and grandpa carrying my cousin (表姐 – see, Chinese just makes such things so much clearer). All. So. Young. My grandparents oh my goodness! (Though I’ve seen their couple portrait taken in their 20s – when neither had a single wrinkle – hung in their bedroom once.)
My other aunt (the sister of the one in the first picture) with my 表姐 and 表哥. (Sorry non-Chinese readers.) My aunt looked so young oh goodness!
(From left to right) My other cousin (the younger brother of my other 表哥), my brother (I’m pretty sure his days of obesity started right then – though it only became a problem when he could no longer pass them off as uber-cute baby fat), my father and mother and my cousin (表姐) at the zoo.
My grandpa and I! And I still remember those days when he really loved me but showed it in a very old-fashioned way. And his endless tidbits-buying that my siblings and I never quite appreciated. Sigh such regrets suffered when young are perhaps the only things that motivate people to continue loving the young (no matter how wayward they get) when they’re old.
My grandma and I! Sigh can’t believe she looked so youthful when I was an infant (as far as she was already a grandmother). Totally miss her and her patience and teachings towards my siblings and I. Grandma, we all turned out pretty well so don’t worry!
I guess when we come together as a family for Chinese New Year celebrations, let us not only remember the people who may have left us physically but left a lasting impact and had with us an emotional bond, but also appreciate those who are still around.
Happy Chinese New Year everyone! And stop obsessing over the ang-paos and gambling – there’s more to the festival!
