My Older Sister’s Jewelry, on Filial Piety

The heart of the older sister, paying back the parents for bringing her up…translated…

A Set of Gold Jewelry Was Given Me to Keep for Her Marriage, Earrings, Necklace, Ring and Several Bengals & Bracelets, with the Beautiful Floral Patterns Carved onto Each, Very Heavy in Weight too………….

Received a call from my older sister, asking if it would be convenient, as she wanted to leave a set of jewelries at my place, she’d explained, that if one day, I can’t support my parents anymore, that I can sell the jewelry pieces for her, to help her repay our parents for raising her.  As I’d heard her, I’d felt my heart tightened, and  can’t figure out why, she’d had this way of thought, she’d appeared, quite, healthy to me.

And what she’d placed with me was a set of golden pieces for marriage, earrings, necklace, ring, and many bracelets, with the beautiful patterns carved on each and every one, very heavy in weight, meant how much my sister’s in-laws weighed her so heavily in their, minds.  My older sister quit her job as an executive assistant, planned to find a job relating to her studies, and yet, shortly after she was wed she was pregnant, and so, she’d begun her path as a full-time mother, transitioned from a working class into a stay-at-home mom.

The endless rounds of sanitizing, cleaning up, breastfeeding, rocking her son to sleep, the household chores, like the protagonist, Phil of Groundhog Day, living February second again, again, and again, not knowing when spring will, come.

illustration from UDN.com

And because my older sister breastfed, bleeding was normal to her, and she would, have a fever because of inflammation in her mammary glands, gastroesophageal reflux.  She could no longer keep that regular schedule and diet anymore, locked herself in, lost contact with her friends, naturally, she’d not, kept her looks up, and because she didn’t have the mind or the time to get herself made up, she’d begun, losing self-confidence.

And I see all of this happening to her, and every other day, we’d called each other up, asking how one another’s doing in life, that was how I’d learned, how fatigued she’d become, after she’d had her son; or maybe, it’s because of how she became weakened in her immune system, she’d gotten ill a lot, which caused her upsets.  And in this chaos, my older sister still worried about our parents, to the pessimistic beliefs of if one day, she dies before they do, my brother-in-law may not be willing or able to, keep on giving money to our parents to help them live.  Then, she’d, passed this thought, to me.

Actually, my sister had been independent, a woman of not very many, words, and hadn’t been interactive enough with our parents, in the past, I’d always thought, that she’d become, disconnected to her families.  Or maybe, it’s how she’d become a mother now, she’d learned about what’s been given to her by our, parents, or, maybe, she’s, innately, a fitting daughter, it’s just that she didn’t get a chance to express, anyways, at this moment in time, I’d, noted how much she’d, loved our, parents.

I’d, carried my older sister’s jewelry carefully, collected her heart, along with the glow of shiny gold feeling, and I pray, that I shall, never need to, sell them.

And so, this is how a woman, pays her parents back for raising her up, and she’d thought too much, but because we never know when we will die, that’s why, this woman felt the need to be prepared, if that day ever comes, and that’s the heart of a daughter, paying back the upbringing of her toward her own, parents.

Babysitting My Young Granddaughter

I feel that panic coming on, it’d been, how long again, since I had to, look after and take care of, a young, child???  Oh that would be, NEVER!!!  Translated…

My granddaughter’s nanny took her ten days of holiday, a couple of months ago, my daughter-in-law asked me to step in.  I’d thought, playing with my granddaughter was my right, besides, I’d not gone to stay at my son’s home a long, long time, I’d, filed my absence slips with the exercise group, my volunteer group, along with my physical and online courses, and told them jokingly, that I’d been, hired as a “temporary Taiwanese maid”.

if only, it will, go this, smoothly…photo from online

My friends envied that I still had the values, and some also, warned, that at my age, I shouldn’t, strain myself out, especially with my problems of the slipped disc, it’d made me worry more, of how my condition will, worsen, with my young granddaughter’s begging me to hold her.  And so, other than all the clothes needed for the varied weather changes, my waist protecting band, heating pad, along with the various anti-inflammatory meds, painkillers, the blood pressure medications, and the eye drops and more, all stuffed into my luggage, like I was on a visit to Europe for ten days, and, I’d worried, that if my daughter-in-law sees me hauling this huge luggage, she may worried, that I will, overstay my, welcome and start getting, panicky.

My husband who’s still working, worried that I might not be able  to, handle our not-yet-a-year-old, active, energetic young granddaughter, and I can only, carried that heart of fears mixed in with the expectancies, headed forward; besides, I’d, designed my younger sisters who are, “great aunts” to come over to sit and chat with me once I got to my son’s home, to help me play with my young granddaughter.  Seeing how actively they’d engaged in the routes to travel up north, and ordering the tickets, it seemed, that they’re, really looking forward to going to their nephew’s home to hang out for the very, first time.  I hope, that the day that they’re set to visit, they won’t see me, covered in dust and filth, along with the diapers, the bottles, flying all over my son’s, home.

and who knows, maybe it’ll be, easy like this…photo from online

From before I’d heard, that after people retired, they would start working full-time or on occasion, to their children’s home to babysit, it’d felt, leisurely and ordinary.  So how come, when it comes to my turn, and although, I was only asked to help out, why did I feel like I was, sent to the, battlefields, unprepared?  I should truly feel grateful now, that my mother was there, in her sixties, watching my son for my day and night, so I never had to, deal with the panics of the babysitting realm.  And now, I’d past sixty, would I have what my mother had, taking good care of my, young, granddaughter?  I’m certain, that mothers are strong, and grandmothers, stronger!

So, this is, only, on occasion when you were asked by your son to babysit your young granddaughter, and you’re, making UP for the times that you couldn’t be there for your own child, because you had to work, and now, the shoe’s on the, other foot!

A Kiss for Mom

How we remembered, and honored our loved ones after they’d been, gone…translated…

My father who’s ninety-seven is in his dreams, I didn’t wake him.  Bring along a poem I just finished, I’d passed through the city ravaged by the rain, through your silent lying on the side, listening to the waves, with the Guanying Mountain in the distances, gazing up at the morning, star.

Dad is slowly losing his memories now, forgotten that you’d, left, forgotten that he’d, cried over you, didn’t remember the heartaches.  When he’d longed and asked for you, I’d always told him, “mom’s watching T.V.” or, “mom went to bed already!”, then, the small room we were in, fell into, that boundless, silence.

Dad’s been blind a long time, with only the dying hearing remained out of his right year, last night, he’d complained of not hearing your calls of late.  I’d, modeled after the trembling hands that you had in your Parkinson’s, held on to his thin, frail, palm, he’d, smiled and took my hand, kissed it gently, and his, silvery white stubbles, gave me the tingling pains.

At age ninety-seven, dad’s still dreaming, I’d not waken him up.  The raging rain released a bit, the flowers outside, all fallen to the pavement, the springtime thunder rolled at the tip of the end of the distant, skies, the morning, patted my face gently like you’d done before, reminded me to get a gulp of warm water before I head out.  I’d come to before you, patted the plaque of your spirit, I’d brought you a kiss, the kiss that’s, kept on your, mind.

So, this is in death, how we remembered our loved ones.  We keep these rituals of worship, to keep those whom we’d loved and lost, still alive in the, memories, and somehow, this ritualistic behavior, can help us, cope with death better…

Paternal Love

How children are, connected to the fathers, who work away from the homes, to provide for their, families, translated…

The celebration of the temple is about to, start.

The noises, the cars, the assortments of busyness, boiling, bubbling up.

I’d loved being in the midst, looking closely at the faces, making the sketches.

Closely examining the characters the performers portrayed, the delicate colors painted, the masters, the guardians, to the various deities’ characteristics, their, duties, to make all those, different looks of the faces, like they’re all, actually, on earth, watching over the people.

As there was a temporary break during the painting of the faces, there was a little girl, who’d, barged in, leapt into the arms of the man who’s had his, face, painted.  But he’d portrayed the soul collector from hell, and, isn’t that little girl, fearful of, him?

It’d reminded me of an actor, he’d, stayed away from home, filming long term, and finally, he’d found the time, to go home.

He was unsettled, thought that his two-year-old child wouldn’t, recognize, him.

the photo fo the father, gazing lovingly into the eyes of his, young daughter, captured by the writer…courtesy of UDN.com

As he saw from a distance, in the park, his young, leaning on his wife’s shoulders, he couldn’t help himself, but rushed forward to them.

And, soon as the child saw him, the child started voicing out “daddy”, then, spreading his arms, wide, open.

Just like that little girl, whose smile expanded across her face, welcoming her father, who’s, hidden underneath that, painted, face…………

Sure, certainly, there’s, love in the world.  The warmth, are constantly, all around us.

This is on the connectedness of the father and the child, and unfortunately, this doesn’t happen regularly enough, and this can only be found, in the working class families, because the children are usually, maturer than other children their age, and, they’d, appreciated their parents more, because daddies are working hard, to keep us all together, to make enough money for us to live off of.

The Hardest of Counseling the At-Risk Students is the Lack of Understanding of the Parents

How this problem is going to, expand, into the workforces, if these students don’t get the help they are in need of, once they’re adults, chances are, they won’t be willing to get into  treatment programs that will actually, help them become better adapted into the society, and we will have, loose time bombs, everywhere, that’s going to go, B-O-O-M, regularly…off of the Front Page Sections, translated…

Have started the plans the “Three Leveled Counseling” for many years, Taiwan is ahead in Asia in Asian countries, and yet, there are still the cases of the at-risk students in Hsinbei neck slashing case, the Keelung three-on-one beating occurring.  It’d made the society question the efficacy of these, counseling means.

Th current three-level counseling system, the homeroom instructors who are at the frontlines of this, had enormous pressures on them.  Although, with their observations, they can note many “signals”, but, currently, the system zooms in on the middle and high school levels.  Certainly, this is the teenage rebellion age, the students are easily influenced by their peers, and easily fallen to temptation from the outside, once they’d gone astray, it may be next to impossible to set them back on the right tracks, again; and yet, with the age getting older, the compounding factors of school, work, economics, peers, social interactions, etc., etc., etc., the pressures grows, with the school instructors, counselors, faced with, an even harder to tackle problems in counseling.

I’d worked as a primary instructor for the technical university for close to three decades, I continued carrying the mindset of respect, trust, and empathy toward my students, listening to their problems, to help them find a way to resolve, and I’d, also felt cheated, for being too involved, and after the students’ lies were busted, the losses of money is small, what’s more difficult to deal with, was the oppositions between the students and instructors, and the parents’ misunderstandings.

And, there were the two female students who started developing the homosexual attraction to each other that their parents are against, one of them was the weaker, the other more possessive same sex partner always gets jealous, if the student is friends with those of the same sex, or gotten acquainted with members of the opposite sex, the misunderstandings, the upsets caused the girl to attempt suicide by leaping off of the building at school, but was caught by her roommate, her life didn’t get, lost.

There is also a female student from parents who were divorced, and remarried separately, who’d had to manage everything for school, student loans, boarding, meal plans, by part-timing herself, and had to deal with her mother who’d just had a child, who’d constantly asked her for money.  And she was forced to work as a waitress at a night club, and, gotten off work in the midnight hours, and, in a few short hours, she’d had to get back up for her schools, and naturally, she’d, missed on hundred of, lecture sessions.

All of these cases, are the ones that came to disclose their situations, as I’d found that something was not quite right with them on their own, while, some don’t even, trust the counselors.  And, if I’d wanted to refer them to a second, or a third level counseling service referral, I’d had to, get consent from them.  The university students are already, adults, so things we can’t help them on, and, we can’t, do, anything, for, them.

There were 215,000 younger generations who were on anti-depressants in 2020, “psychological illnesses” are getting younger and younger at onset, and, it’s usually, hard to tell from looking.  These individuals, no matter if they’re in school, or in the workforce, they all needed assistance and the shows of care and concerns.  Is the current system of counseling, up to standard for the needs of these, persons?

If you aren’t aware enough, that you are mentally ill, then, chances are, you can’t get the assistance you need, and, most people, due to the general taboos of the realms of being labeled as “mentally ill”, “on anti-psychotic medication”, that’s why, the adult population are less likely to seek out the assistance they needed, and, this will cause the workforce to become, unstable, because, you don’t know if you’re working with someone who’s, mentally troubled, who must might, take a gun to work, and start, shooting everybody who was there at the office one day…

My Mother’s Bestie

The connectedness, the love that’s shared between the two sisters-in-law, who were originally best of friends, before one married the older brother, is truly, rare, and amazing for sure!  Translated…

As I’d gone home that day to visit my ninety-three-year-old mother, before I got to the front door, I’d heard her loud on the phones, and, it was no surprise to me, that she was calling up my younger aunt who’s ten years her junior.

back when they were younger, as best friends…photo from online

And, we’d all heard, the bad interactions between the sisters-in-law a lot, to the point of the relationship worsening to the two stop contact forever.  But mom and my aunt’s connection was, so very, deep, they’d interacted like old friends, sisters too, and that made those who knew them awe.

Actually, mom and pops grew up in the same village, they were neighbors too, before marrying, mom was a childhood playmate of my aunts.  She’d told me, that when my aunt was younger, she’d loved prettying herself up, and would go to her bedroom to get her makeup; when mom bought new clothes, and, if my aunt fitted in them, she would, always give the new clothes to her too, the accessories too, she’d given them to my aunt.  Of course, my aunt returned the favors, she’d looked after the group of us, her nieces and nephews, and helped around the kitchen at our home.

When my aunt was getting married, my parents felt sad, and told her, that if she’d felt taken in her own mother-in-law’s home, that they were her backup forever, it’d moved my aunt to tears.

After she was wed, my aunt worked to help her own household economics, and would, place my three younger boy cousins with my mom, my three younger cousins, grew up with us.  And, from time to time when my aunt and uncle had fights, my house was also, a temporary escape from her own home.

My father died at sixty-five of illness, at the time we were still working hard in our separate careers, and it was my aunt who’d become my mother’s, best, companion through her grief.

When my mother had the time, she’d planted the vegetables in the local gardens, and naturally, the crops were of my aunt’s, favorite; the two of them would cook together, shared conversations, and my cousins always happily told, “my mother is elderly now, and she still has her own family of origin to rely on, with the love of our second eldest aunt, she’s, so very, blessed!”

growing old together…like this…photo from online

Mom and aunt’s love and connection, it’s, an alternative sort of a “companion in old age”!  It is, a rare gem, how the sisters-in-law are so connected for life.

Because they were raised up together, as neighbors and best friends, there’s that reduction of friction with the sisters-in-law after marriage, and this is something that is, quite, rare too, because, traditionally, the sisters-in-law would compete for the love of the families a lot.

Allow the Children to Resolve the Conflicts on Their Own

How the kids will, find a way to interact with one another, nicely, without fighting, when we’re not, looking, because they’d, internalized what we’d taught them in interacting with one another daily already…translated…

A lot of parenting volumes said, to let the children sort out their own differences, that parents should not intervene.  I’d worked very hard and long on this, but, it’d been, too hard for me, because the children can’t fully keep their emotions in check, they aren’t, reasonable enough either, lacked empathy too, if I’d allowed my kids to sort things out on their, own, the end result is usually that one of them felt that s/he got picked on, and wailed, or they’d simply, start to, brawl.  And yet, being their mediator every single day, it’s, tiring too.

One day, I was lying on the couch, just resting, my seven-year-old eldest son told me, “mom, you go into the bedroom to nap, I will stay outside here with my younger brother.”, I’d become confused, and he’d told me, that he didn’t want me to watch over them.

I’d told him, that if he’d picked on his younger brother, then, he will be, punished, he’d told me he’d understood, and so, I’d, gone into the bedroom, with doubt in my, mind, and closed my eyes, lying on the bed, while, still kept attention on my children who were, playing, outside.  Suddenly, the two of them started, fighting, my younger screamed at his older brother, as he got angry, and, my older didn’t act like he normally had, mocked his younger brother, or, took advantage of him, instead, he’d, started, comforting his younger brother, and, allowed his brother to have what he wanted.

Then, I’d heard my sons heading into the shower, my younger started, yelling again, turns out, my older was, washing my younger son’s head; he’d done what we did, told his younger brother to tilt his head back, then, soothed him patiently.  I’d, held back my thought of wanting to go see what was going on, wanted to know, how far can my older son go in caring for his younger brother, and how compliant my younger son can, get.

During those two hours, although there were the small fights that came into my ears, but, they’d found ways, that worked with them both.  I was, quite, surprised, and understood, that it wasn’t, that they’d, matured, suddenly, but of how they’d, internalized what we’d, taught them in how to interact with one another every single day.

Later, I’d stopped, needing to, intervene into their, arguments, they would, try and work things out on their, own, and from time to time, they would come to me to “tattle”, then, the “judge” is, needed to oversee the cases.  Maturation is by progression, not achieved in a day’s work. I hope, that all moms and dads can have enough wisdoms, to take their children in getting them to learn to get along on their own.

So, this still showed, how parents would, often, intervene too quick, when a fight is about to start, the parents would, put an end to the fight that’s, about to happen, telling the older kid to give whatever toy or whatever it is the young kid wanted from the older, instead, of allowing them, to resolve things, their own, way, whether it be fighting over the toys or whatever, or to learn to compromise on their own, and, by stepping in as parents, we took away the chances of them, learning how to resolve things by themselves, because mommy and daddy will always step in, and solve the arguments FOR us, and one of us gets, punished, because we took the other one’s toys, because we wouldn’t allow our younger siblings to play with our, toys, and, the kids still, don’t learn a thing!

Parents in Retirement

After you’re off from your regular nine-to-fives, you are now, being, ASKED by your own young, to RAISE up their young, because they’re now, providing FOR their children, and can’t stay by their children like you couldn’t because you needed to put money on the tables, that’s just, wrong, in my opinion, but hey, what would I know…translated…

The dinner time for the family of four of us, we’d discussed it to several decades, later, our two girls to starting in their careers and families, and by then, we would be elderly too, and we will get to live out the retirement we desired; my husband is into photography, I, love writing the, stories, I want to start off from traveling the island, to find the stories to document, to going abroad for the adventures, for our, “honeymoon in the golden years”, to relive the times of when it was only the two of us when we were, newlyweds.

instead of parents raising their own young, this, is what happens…and maybe, some of you think that this is, “heartwarming”, but it’s, not, because these babies ARE your children’s, and they can’t raise them personally, because they HAVE to work, and so, it’d become, YOUR, obligations…phoro from online

As we were, weaving up these, dreams, my six-year-old eldest daughter chimed in, “that won’t do, you guys can’t go abroad.”, my husband was confused, “why, you guys are old enough, mommy and I want to take a long rest to travel a bit!”

She’d had that seriousness of her face, responded, “I want to have babies like mommy, but I don’t want to take care of them, it’s too tiring!  I want mommy to help me look after my young, and daddy can care for sister’s children, and that way, sister and I get to, take our, breaks.”

I was frozen in that, freezeframe, with the bowls, the chopsticks in my hands, started, chuckling, thought, “you’d, modeled after my complaints when I got too tired of raising the two of you in wanting my mini-vacation, and you’re, too agile in, helping to set up our retirement but still working haven for the futures.

Yeah, this may look and sound cute, in that time frame, but, think about it, how awful it would be, that when you’re, retired from working (when you’re supposed to be able to, breathe, easier???) you are now, left with the raising of your own, grandchildren?  I mean, maybe you think, that it’s a wonderful thing, because you finally got to make up for the time lost when your kids were young, the time you’d not spent with them enough, because you HAD to make a living, but, this SHIT will keep on rolling, and then, this is NOT what parenthood is about: we should be raising OUR own children, interacting with them every single day, while we work our hands to the bones, in our, separate, five-to-nines (forget about the “regular hours” of nine-to-five!), and, this is just NO good, no matter IF you would be, enjoying your times as grandpas and grandmas.  You’d already HAD your turn, raised up your own children (but you’d failed to interact with them enough because you HAD to work???), and you THINK, that somehow, you can, make up for lost time, by helping your own young, raise their children???  Yeah, that’s just, not right!

Unconditional Love

The values passed down from one generation to the next, the importance of the love shared between the parents and their, children, translated….

Love, Although, Limited by the Space & Time, But Due to This Form of Limitations, it’d Made Us Cherish Everything We Come to Share, More……….

After supper, I was doing the dishes, busying in the kitchens, my son did his part, helped putting the dishes and bowls on to the places.  “Mom, do you believe in unconditional love in this world?”, he’d looked, doubtful as he’d, posed this, question, to me.

“What do you think?”, toward this interesting question, I’d wanted to know his, perspectives.  “Of course there is, the love from parents toward their young, that’s, unconditional, I suppose!”, his tone was firm, his tiny face shone of that, confidence.  “If I’m to tell you, that there’s a limit to parents’ love for their young, will you feel, disappointed?”, I’d smiled light at him, knew, that this response from me, will, fill him with the, confusions.

After we got into the discussions, I’d come to realize, that what made him question was the book he was reading recently, “The Beatryce Prophecy”, with a concept of: “the place called home, should allow people to be who they are, and be loved for who thy, are.”  Certainly, I’d told him, that the parents’ love for their young, is revolved around that the love we have for our children, to help them grow up safe, healthy, and happy, and, set up their own self-worth, establish their own self-values, and build up their self-confidence in this sort of a good environment they’re, raised up, in.

illustration from UDN.com

And yet, I’d noted, that to help him understand, that the so-called “unconditional love” also, has its, limitations; all of these limitations may come from the time, the space, or the trials of living.  Especially, the children grow up, the parents grow old.  As the parents go from strong, into their, elderly years, what they can then give to their young, the companionships they’d offered, naturally gets, reduced.  But, as the children mature, they will, return the love they were shown by their own parents, back too.

This love, other than the unconditional giving, there’s the, “responsibilities” and “gratitude” that’s, attached.  I recalled back when I was at my son’s age, in the assignment books of my Chinese sentence structure, I’d wrote that the parents liked their young, that was why they took care of them, and my pops corrected me, that that was “love” and not “like”.  At the moment of time, being in the elementary years, I’d pressed on, “isn’t deep like equal to, love?”, he’d smiled on me gently, “child, like will NEVER equal love, it’s totally, different.”

And now, like my dad answered me when I was in the fifth grade, I’d, told my fifth grade son, “like and love are two different emotions, liking is for the time being, or a little bit stronger than the mutual, attractions.  But included in the love were the elements of responsibilities, gratitude, and, cherishment.  And, the willingness to work in the same direction as the other individual, and the hopes to provide the other person the happiness s/he desires.  Although the parents will offer the young love, but this love, will have its, limitations.  And yet, due to the limitations of the spaces and time, that’s why it’s, so, precious, and we need to hold on to it.”

My son was lost in thought, then smiled and told, “Thank you for loving me.  In your love, I can be like in the book, learn to like myself, and stay true to me.”

Love, although, it becomes, restricted by the same and the time, but due to these limitations, it’d made us more willing to, cherish everything.  In the limited amount of life we get, do take advantage of the now, and cherish what you have in your, arms.

So, this is the conversation the mother shared with his elementary school age son, which is quite, adult in content, and this still  just showed, how important it is, for us to hold these daily conversations with our (still don’t got any!) young, because, that’s how we will pass these values that we hold dear to us, that we want our children to carry on forward in their lives, as these values had been, passed down to us by our own, parents too.

The Memories in the Old Photographs

Remembering how her father decorated her childhood with his love for his, family, how precious were the moments they’d shared, on these, outings as, a family together…translated…

Days after my father’s, passing, we sisters returned back home, to sort through the items he’d, left behind, of what we’d, sorted through, those volumes of old photographs on the shelves, helped us, grieve for the loss of our, father.

the memories made with their, young, child…photo from online

The photos at home, all had the dates, the locations where they’d been, taken from, that was pops, when he could still do everything himself, he’d, put together, the collective memories of us.  I’d, flipped to a page in the albums, with “February 2^nd, 1974, location: Meishan Park.  P.S.: the plum flowers are in full-bloom, taking the kids out on an adventure.”  At this moment of time, these, yellowed photographs, became that time machine, took me back, into the buried deep memories, temporarily, allowed me, to relive those, shared moments of warmth.

On that day, many a year, ago, my youngest aunt in her college years, came visiting, my parents who’d normally busied for our livelihood, took us out on an adventure.  Pops called loudly, “come, let’s have an adventure!”, we’d squeezed onto the bus from Chiayi County, come to the Meishan Park, and at this time, the plum blossoms were, in, full, bloom!

The elegant flower, like the snow that fell, overed up the entire park, breathtakingly, beautiful.  Mom stood underneath an old plum tree with the flowers, spread the plastic table cover she brought from home open, used that as a picnic blanket, we sat down leisurely, looked at the beautiful flowers, and, chowed down on the rice ball my mother, made, with my father’s creative cooking, “stewed dried daikon”, the ordinary ingredient, became the best tasting food I’d ever, gotten to, savor, in that time of not having enough, that was, what our parents can, provide for us, a top-notch, delicacy.  As the flowers were in full-bloom, my father was busy with his, camera, capturing us, chasing each other, us, hopping and jumping from joy, he’d, not gotten into the shot at all, the only family portrait was to our, pleading and begging, taken by my, youngest, aunt.  My parents were, so young in that photo, my eldest sister and I, grinned, ear to, ear, my naughty youngest sister made that face of hers, that heartwarming scene, illuminated of the simple, happiness.

a man devoted to his family…spending the time, to READ to his children, photo from online

Time had turned too fast, almost half a century had, passed, we sisters are already, into the, early older adulthood years now, and my father grew old, and tired, and, took that forever leave of, absence already.  And from here on out, we will, never get to, share these, daily moments with him, but, on this very day, through the “temperatures” of these, photos, I’d, time, travelled, and got to relive those times I’d shared with him.  And at this time, it’s as if, I’d heard him, stated, “let’s go out for an, adventure!”, and that bright laughter of, his, again.

So, this is on how a father, made the time, to take time off, from his, busy work schedules, to spend the time with his kids, and, even as the children grew up, they’d, still, kept the memories of this love he’d, shown to them in their, hearts, and that, is what a good father leaves behind, for his young, not just the cash in inheritances, but, the memories of his love for them.