CNY: Day One
Dinner tonight was at our place. How we periodically manage to squeeze 15 people at the dinner table has always been a mystery to me. Our five loaves and two fish, if you will.
One of my cousins brought her maid along today:
"Siti, can you get me a pair of chopsticks!" she hollered, sitting herself down at the dining table. "Thank God we brought the maid," she heaved.
"Yes, because it would be unthinkable for you to retrieve your own chopsticks from the kitchen," her husband shot back playfully.
I think that everyone should have as many children as possible, because big families are very fun. Of course, my tune might change when we get into one of our infamous family fights where everyone gets in on the act and is either screaming or crying. For now, though, it's easy to just cherish the good times. They are worth it. :)
***
We always thought that my paternal grandpa had only a younger brother and younger sister. Today we found out that he did, in fact, have two or three older siblings, but they had been kidnapped back when they were still in China.
I didn't really know quite how to react to such news. On the one hand, it means that I possibly have granduncles and grandaunties and distant cousins that I don't know of; on the other hand, it doesn't seem to mean much, since those granduncles and grandaunties have probably passed on (my grandpa was 92 when he died last year). The distant cousins, if they do exist, seem a little too disconnected for me to get emotional about. How would you react?
I half expect someone in the family to investigate into this and attempt to locate our long-lost family. How and where they would begin looking, I know not.
(Unknown facts like these surface every single year in my family. If only there was a "Fast Forward" button, we might be able to give Days of Our Lives a run for their money.)
As we got ready to bid my granduncle farewell (after the huge revelation and discussion of its implications), and head for my grandma's house for lunch, I caught myself momentarily about to say "See you, Grandpa." Even though they're a good 12 years apart, people constantly mistook them for twins (when Grandpa was around). And then I think mascara got into my eyes because they started to sting and water.
Goodnight Grandpa, we missed you this year. See you when I get there.
One of my cousins brought her maid along today:
"Siti, can you get me a pair of chopsticks!" she hollered, sitting herself down at the dining table. "Thank God we brought the maid," she heaved.
"Yes, because it would be unthinkable for you to retrieve your own chopsticks from the kitchen," her husband shot back playfully.
I think that everyone should have as many children as possible, because big families are very fun. Of course, my tune might change when we get into one of our infamous family fights where everyone gets in on the act and is either screaming or crying. For now, though, it's easy to just cherish the good times. They are worth it. :)
***
We always thought that my paternal grandpa had only a younger brother and younger sister. Today we found out that he did, in fact, have two or three older siblings, but they had been kidnapped back when they were still in China.
I didn't really know quite how to react to such news. On the one hand, it means that I possibly have granduncles and grandaunties and distant cousins that I don't know of; on the other hand, it doesn't seem to mean much, since those granduncles and grandaunties have probably passed on (my grandpa was 92 when he died last year). The distant cousins, if they do exist, seem a little too disconnected for me to get emotional about. How would you react?
I half expect someone in the family to investigate into this and attempt to locate our long-lost family. How and where they would begin looking, I know not.
(Unknown facts like these surface every single year in my family. If only there was a "Fast Forward" button, we might be able to give Days of Our Lives a run for their money.)
As we got ready to bid my granduncle farewell (after the huge revelation and discussion of its implications), and head for my grandma's house for lunch, I caught myself momentarily about to say "See you, Grandpa." Even though they're a good 12 years apart, people constantly mistook them for twins (when Grandpa was around). And then I think mascara got into my eyes because they started to sting and water.
Goodnight Grandpa, we missed you this year. See you when I get there.
posted by Laughingcow at 1:33 am
2 Comments:
yeah.. my grand-dad passed away in 2003 and it's still strange to go to granny's place and not see him...
we also found out only a few years ago that my dad had an even elder sis who died of illness when she was little.. really sets you wondering on the "what ifs"..
some parents never tell their kids that they had miscarriages till quite a long while later.. you wonder (i) what if I had another brother / sister, or worse yet, (ii) would they not have had me if there was no miscarriage?
Family skeletons are amazingly intriguing. This is why soap operas have their faithful following. :p
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