Preparedness

I mourn the passing of the father of counselling, the late Mr Anthony Yeo. I have always admired the likes of him --- individuals who make the unburdening of troubled souls their calling in life. How many of us even bother to listen to our loved ones, not to mention even try to share in their trials and tribulations?

Then yesterday, one of the daughter's friend's father lost his fight with stomach cancer. I can imagine what a loss this sole-bread winner would mean to his wife and very young children. I asked my 6 if they were ready to lose me at this point of their lives. Some said yes, others gave nervous laughter and a couple brushed off my silly rantings. The late Mr Anthony Yeo said that he was ready for eternal rest with his Maker; I want to be able to say that when my time comes.

Of actors, actresses and "carlafays"

Yesterday was a fun-filled whole-family-hands-on day. For her school project, one of the daughters needed to make a short movie and naturally our family was the defacto acting pool. You name it, we were it -- main actors, actresses, characters when they were young to characters 15 years later, parents, drunkards, background crowd etc. We also chipped in to do the make-up, procure the necessary props and like real, ..... we had storyboards, lighting effects and what it took to make a fairly decent short movie. Passers-by at our outdoor shoot venue even mistook us for some Mediacorp outfit! Haha! It was really fun! I even mangaged to squeeze in some school prep work in between acting,being tea lady, lunch provider and chauffeur to all and sundry. The day was well-spent.

Half-way reflection

Half of 2009 has just zipped by. I give thanks for a largely blessed year of teaching at a new environment and growing-up-with-the-kids at home. I learnt a good plenty this half of the year --- how to be even more disciplined with my life and how to ride everything that comes along with added measured patience. There are still many things I would love to turn out better, .... but well .... there is still another half of the year and it would be there for my taking with a better outlook and handling! I see the 6 growing up furiously fast --- each with their distinctive personality. I pray each day that they might eschew every experience that they encounter with compassion, integrity and genuine enjoyment of what they do. I have seen far too many souls -- young and old --- who go about aimlessly with emptiness in their lives. What a waste of living! Students dying in every sense of the word, chasing grades; adults too busy chasing their dollars and cents to raise their own kids; youngsters engaging in debauchery in the name of being cool ----- aiyah, wake up, people!