It’s been planned since a few months ago. Days are inching closer to the red circles on the calendar. We’re taking mom and dad for a vacation!! Hokaiddo, Japan!! Wohoo.
I was on the phone with Amelia discussing about work schedules, before we ended the call she asked “How are you going to Hokaiddo now?”
“Huh? AirAsia loh.”
“A bad earthquake hit that area. I just saw the news like 6.6 Richter scale.”
Natural disasters… I sincerely hope the Japaneses recover from the loss, the pain and destructions. But then I must face the question. 3 days before the planned vacation, an earthquake hit your destination. Do you go on or plan for plan B? Dilemma. How do i even calculate the risk? I need to warn mom.
“Mom, have you heard?” I asked.
“The airport is closed?!?” Came the immediate respond with serious expressions.
I told her about the quake, which she already knew about it.
“Shall we proceed?” I probed.
“Proceed la. It’s Japan we are talking about. They can fix everything and they can complete it quickly. “
“No mom, I mean aren’t you afraid of the danger? There could be more tremors while we are there. “
“Halo I grew up in Taiwan. What’s some tremor?”
“What if there’s tsunami and stuff and we die?”
And her reply came easy, so simple yet so profound, so straight up but still so deep and hidden.
“Hah! If I can just daktungchiang like that, that’ll be nice.”
Enroute to Hokaiddo, we transit at KL and decided to drop by Tampin. Today is a Sunday, I’ll wanna worship God. So I arranged to join aunt Florence to church. And during breakfast, I just casually asked if mom wanna come along. Surprisingly she said ok (dad said ok but later changed his mind).
Mom sat beside me at church. And it dawned on me, how blessed it is to have mom coming to church with me today. How precious she is to me but I must have forgotten. She is the one who mom all of us and she can absolutely take care of herself, but who is showing her extra care or make her feel special for once?
While worshipping the Lord, I was touched and tears were pooling. Mom noticed that I was wiping away tears and she reached for my hand, smiled at me.
She has very warm and comforting hands. Good to travel to cold countries.
I’m typical Asian. I love my folks and I suppose they know it when I do things like… taking them for a holiday and spend time with them? Suppose some words unspoken won’t make a lot of difference?
Anyhow I plucked up my courage, and told mom “Memek, i love you. ” for the first time in a very long time.
With one hand she held mine firmly and I noticed she wiped her eyes with the other.
God bless my mom
aL is here 