On This Day Eleven Years Ago
Today would have marked officially the last day of a long holiday had it been another ordinary year, except that it is not. Everyone has been on home quarantine in one form or other; and Christians would have to observe the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord through the internet and mostly on the hand phone, which is where most of us would meet our friends when it becomes necessary to do so. The long holidays were mostly spent uneventfully for most of us.
The social media reminded us that eleven years ago today exactly, Su and I took a trip to the home of her parents with a host of prearranged goods and inventories to officially ask for their permission to take her daughter to be my bride. It was a joyous occasion. My friend who doubled as the modern day matchmaker had not only drawn up the inventories based on traditions, but had also arranged to acquire all the items on the list while we were making our trip back from New York after a visit to my children, both of them not being able to come back for the wedding scheduled ten days later. Father and Mother looked extremely happy as we walked through their door and presented them the gifts and goodies, most of which were consumables in due time, but some were fruits and hence more perishable than the rest. It was the first time they had such experience; and it was also a first for both of us. We had lots of photos taken. As we looked at the photos today, all the characters have aged somewhat, and our natural reaction was, “How time flies!”
Time does fly. It was two weeks ago Su and I took the jump ropes to the park downstairs for exercises the first time, the park having closed down all other amenities after all our clubs had closed down their gyms and other facilities beforehand. Su had acquired those ropes when the black shirts began to disrupt traffic, block streets with riots and set fire to public properties. Su was rather good at the sport as she boasted she had first learnt to skip ropes when she was five, or more than half a century ago. How time flies indeed again. I tried my best to copy; not having had such experience or training before, initially rather clumsily, but I managed somehow, though not as proficiently as she could. By yesterday, I was able to do double skipping together with her, which was a pleasant surprise for both of us.
Still on passage of time, Sam Hui who was around my vintage when I was an undergraduate in HKU gave a concert through the internet to thank the fans in Hong Kong and everywhere on the one hand and the staff on the Tom Lee team who had been with him for 35 years on the other, but which team had to be disbanded under the current health situation and economic conditions. It was a touching moment at times, but some more critical audience had remarked that Sam had shown his age and his voice sounded somewhat weak at times. Of course he has aged, as all of us would have. It is the thought and the sentiment that counts. Still some had said that it was a stark contrast to the mini concert in Milan by Andrea Bocelli, to which I would say that there is no point to make comparisons between apples and oranges. Besides, it’s not what one is giving that counts, but how much one has given of what one is left with.
I wish all of you out there happy and healthy; and I hope to talk to you again soon.
