Hi father,
On our way home from her art class, 小tz pointed to the bright star above us and shouted:
"Daddy look, that's ah gong's star! Know what daddy, ah gong is following us to look after us. Hee…”
That's how we tried to explain to 小tz about her gong gong's death. Telling her gong gong left us to be among the stars, so that he can continue to look after his favourite grand daughter. What else can we do to explain to our 5 years old about death? Fortunately, we chose not to shield her from the processes and it must have helped her to have a good closure.
Recalling my relationship with you, 小tz's gong gong aka. my father-in-law, it didn't start off well with a good footing. When I was courting yt, I was then still a workshop instructor running social enterprise project for crafts and performing arts in a voluntary welfare organization. That translate to working in the evenings and over the weekends, with lots of free time during the weekdays clearing my off-in-lieu hours. Imagine drinking tea in a quiet Starbucks and having the best seats while watching movies. Hee... ... Great right?
Well...
All this seems great till I discovered the wield looks from you when I fetch yt at 2pm on a weekday afternoon. Ha ha...
"Why is this lazy fellow not working at this hours?! Why is he always not around during weekends? Is he partying over the weekends? Hmm... That explains why he is here at 2pm!"
Those were your exact thoughts then and I wasn't at all surprise to hear it from you, when I visited you at the hospital. This will be my exact thoughts if 小tz dated a guy like me later in her life. I would have continue that lifestyle if not for my desire to spend my life with yt, to gain your trust and blessing and to be able to earn enough to provide for my family. It's a great change for someone like me who gave up seeking for money and just wanted to earn enough to support myself, and pursue my passion in supporting life of others who are less fortunate than me.
Fortunately, I still managed to gain your trusts in getting your blessing to be with yt. Oh, and that resulted in many small talks we have thereafter while we are out with the ladies. They, my mother-in-law, my wife and my daughter, were always ahead shopping while we catch up with our small talks walking behind them.
Similar to my late father, I have the opportunity to know you better towards the end of your life journey. Both of you shared very similar characters, the way you chose to face life and communicate with those you so dearly protect.
During those moments, we spoke about the joy and disappointment in life. There were stuff we saw coming and scenarios we predicted correctly. Some were positive, some were negative, and some you will never ever going to believe that it happened.
Father, I will always remember you and yes, to fulfill the promise you keep wanting me to assure you during our talks. Thanks for giving me such a lovely wife and your unreserved love for 小tz.
On behalf of yt and 小tz, 我们爱您, 好走.
