Picture perfect parents

My parents recently switched mobile phones; at the same time, to the same model. They got the phones free of charge because of that promotion that comes with the phone directory collection notification letter that every household receives.

My folks are not the most tech-savvy people around. They have two approaches towards new technology; it either keeps them highly fascinated and occupies all of their time awake, or they ignore it completely and get the kids to do the job instead. I used to think that the latter was annoying, but now that the Mobile Phone Twins have gotten hooked to the camera in their phones, I'm having second thoughts. (Incidentally, ST has a short commentary in today's papers about cameras in phones; subscribers can click here to read.)

My dad has trouble photographing himself; I guess that would be the same trouble one would have with taking a photo of oneself with a camera, generally devoid of a rotating lens capability. They do have this miniscule reflective surface on the phone to serve as some sort of estimation, but you know how these things go. Last night, my dad spent the entire evening playing with the phone, muttering to himself: "Too high, too low, too big, too small."

Sigh.

My mom, on the other hand, is not as concerned with alignment. But with this photo-taking feature comes other peripheral nonsense, like simply accessing your photos, or sending your photos to someone else's phone, none of which she seems capable of handling on her own.

Of course, while they are doing all of this, I have to drop whatever I'm doing -- which, last night, happened to be running on the treadmilly thingy (really, I don't know what to call it) -- and attend to their queries immediately, otherwise they will just repeat their question over and over and over again, until I drop whatever I'm doing, and... well, you see how it works. I literally felt the lactic acid building up in my calves (pun not intended) as I hovered over them, directing their every move, wondering why they couldn't get it the first time.

***

The phones were on the table, side by side; you couldn't tell one from the other.

I picked one up and opened it (they're the clam-shell type). The screen lit up, and a photo of my mom's smiling face stared back at me.

"Is this yours?" I asked my mom.

"Hmm?" she looked up at me, and I turned the phone to face the screen towards her.

"Nope, that's Daddy's phone."

My dad's phone -- with a wallpaper of my mom. Huh.

In that moment, I realised how good we had it -- how good we have it. I can't say for sure what will happen in the future, but for now, they have given us the best gift that any set of parents can give their children -- love for each other. My parents have been married a little over 26 years now; we've been unspeakably blessed. You only ever read about the tragedies in the news, but the perfect family exists; the perfect family is not one free of troubles, but it is one filled with love.

I smiled at my mom. "So sweet, ah?"

My mom beamed, and a slow smile broke across her face. Then she let out a tiny laugh, and shook her head, still smiling: "Sometimes, lah."

Some things are well worth the lactic-acid build up, if I do say so. :)