F.A.M.I.L.Y

My sister is back - for good! It was a last minute decision from her company for her to return on Friday early morning. She informed me on Wednesday afternoon. In our conversation, I asked her why isn't she considering to stay on in the States since she loved it so dearly and she said that my parents needed her. Jokingly, I told her that more than just my parents needing her, I need her too!

Without my sister in Singapore, I often wonder how would things be like if I am the only child? Working & taking care of my dad is indeed not an easy task, especially with the demands of my work. Thankfully, mum has retired and is home full time but still, she needs her respite. After my dad's stroke, his concept of time has deteriorate quite a bit. He would be awake in the night and sleeps in the day. I could be receiving his call on my mobile at 3am.

Conclusion? I do not like being an only child. Not because I had to take on the sole responsibility of taking care of my parents but rather, it's nice having a sibling to talk to, to quarrel with, to argue over the silliest matter, etc.

Today, I was at a girls' school and I observed 2 siblings quarreling. It was rather funny. They were quarreling who to drink from the water fountain first. The younger one said "I am younger so I drink first." The older one was frustrated and said "Why is it always you going ahead first?" They were arguing quite loudly but I thought it was very funny. Made me reminisce my days with my sister when we were young.

I do not have much memory of my childhood days. I do, however, recall, that between the both of us, I was the very quick tempered and hot tempered one. I remember she got me mad so I used my Enid Blyton book to hit her head (it's either I recalled it or I've been reminded unceasingly by my sister). Haaa!!! When we go for our Art Class, we will sometimes slip to the back of the classroom don't know for what! After school, we would 'pak kak' (conspire). We would call our parents to report safety back home then we would slip to our neighbour's house at the 20-something floor. We would enjoy scaling up the door frame and swing ourselves at the fixed bar.

Anyway, siblings will always have sibling's rivalry. There will be pangs of jealousy once in a while. There will be anger now and then. Not forgetting, there will definitely be laughter and tears. Once family, always family. No matter how angry we can be, no matter how bad the quarrel was, we always made up in our own ways.

These days, I have been thinking a lot about this relationship call FAMILY. Early this morning, I got a father calling me feeling frustrated at his son not returning home again. In his anger, he wants to lodge a Beyond Parental Control complaint. Yet, due to his love for his son, he does not want to do that because he knows that the son will spend a month of remand at Singapore Boys' Home. He was torn all because of a father's love.

Then, at the Home front, I have 3 siblings who quarrels every other few hours. YET, when the younger one is 'bullied', the eldest will ALWAYS ALWAYS stand up for her, not bothering who is at fault. For all we know, the younger sister may be the one at fault but it doesn't bother the eldest sister because to her, she just want to protect.

I guess, at the end of this entry, what I want to depict is that we do not choose our family members. Once a family, always a family. We stick together as a family, in sorrow and in joy, in sickness and in health. Serving the families serve as a reminder to me that I must treasure what I have and not to covet for what I do not have.