Sunday, December 7, 2008

My Mum’s Secret Plan

By the time this is posted on my blog, my mum, my brother and SIL must be settling into their new surroundings at a cooking school. The trio, led by my mum, have signed up for a cooking course abroad. I was kept in the dark about the details because a worry wart like me will definitely try to put a stop to their plans. My dad revealed the secret to me on Tuesday. As usual, he did it by pretending to let the cat out of the bag accidentally. I hit the roof no less. It may be too late to persuade them not to go but it is never too late to spend the rest of December worrying. The trio are not returning home until after Christmas! My poor dad will be spending it alone! And instead of sharing a scrumptious dinner with us to celebrate the Chinese Winter festival, a dutiful relative and his wife will stand in for us this year.

According to the lunar calendar, Thursday was my mum’s birthday. She doesn’t celebrate her birthdays, neither do I. We just don’t seem to see the point of it. That’s one of a few things that we do share in common. Otherwise, we are pretty much like chalk and cheese. At 70 now (71 in Chinese years), I have been wishing for my mum to slow down perhaps my entire life. When I was a child, all I wanted was for mum to spend time with me. These days, I just want her to stay put for her own safety. My dad and I are pretty much resigned to the fact that nothing will ever dampen her spirit of adventure. Not even that botched up hip replacement surgery from years ago slowed her down. Come to think of it, she travelled less this year and I suppose I should also be happy that she isn’t dragging my dad along this time. Long distance flying and overindulgence of food and alcohol is not good to his system.

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