Saturday, April 14
a week of catching up.
seemed like a long week.met up with aunty and uncle and cousins whom i've not seen for 11 years!
back then i was in sec 3 and we went to australia to visit them.
they took really good care of us.
met them on thursday.
bethany's all grown up.
loves partying and shopping!
we're quite different in personality and interests, but we got along v well infact!
gona bring her to USS. (:
and maybe to clarke quay to check out the night life here?
that's not really a very me place to go though.
saw lisle.....
she's nineteen.
but the size of a small ten year old girl.
when i got into the car, she was sitting beside me.
i looked at her and smiled and said hello.
she looked at me.
she hugged me very tightly.
once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, six times.
until my aunty had to tell her, "no more, no more, be gentle".
repetition.
she's nineteen.
but she cannot speak a word.
she's nineteen.
but wearing diapers which my aunt had to change.
and often my aunt had to clean her drool.
she's nineteen.
but cannot walk without someone supporting her.
she's nineteen.
she uses special plates and utensils to eat her food.
and wears a bib to prevent food from falling all over her.
but God made her special.
with likes and dislikes.
she loves escalator rides, up and down and up and down.
she loves holding and crushing tissue paper packets.
because the likes the sound of it.
she loves music, like celine dion.
she'll move with the music if she likes it.
she understands in a certain way, but not like how we do.
she smiles sometimes.
she can nod her head.
she is very sensitive to touch.
she loves to be very very close to people.
i think it gives her a sense of security.
my aunt said that for boys with a disability like hers, they die by age 2.
and for girls with a disability like hers, they live only till early teens.
lisle is the longest surviving that they have seen.
it takes so much love from the parents.
but yet, in them, they see her as special.
they see her as theirs.
they see it not as sacrifice, but of what they love to do.
compared to 11 years ago when i saw her, she's grown.
she didn't use to be even able to stand up.
today she's able to walk, with someone holding her hand.
and maybe i feel that certain connection with her partly because of my work.
at work, we plan for services for children and adults with disability.
we talk about how we can empower people with special needs to lead independent lives.
my cousin. my very own cousin.
she's a child with special needs.
goes to a special school in australia who teaches skills for daily living.
she's special.
a child loved by God.
loved by her family.
special.
heard from my dad that they went to visit yeh yeh at the home.
i'm not sure if due to yeh yeh's dementia, he forgot the past.
or was it truly really that he has accepted them.
whatever it is, it's good.
it's reconciliation.
he has probably not seen them in thirty years?
dad said yeh yeh cried when he saw them all.
they hugged.
and talked.
i was so touched to hear that.
yeh yeh was the one who drove them out.
out of singapore.
he didn't attend their wedding.
didn't give them his blessings at all.
the past few times i heard him talk about them, he was angry and scolding.
i wonder how they felt.
i wonder how gu ma felt.
seeing her father again.
after thirty years.
seeing yeh yeh old and weak.
it might be the last time they see him.....
he might not survive till the next time they come to singapore.
so i'm really very thankful and glad that the meet up turned out well.
reconciliation.
i saw some reconciliation between gu ma and ah pak too.
ah pak talked to them.
he asked them questions about how lisle was.
he was really concerned, maybe a little taken aback to see her like that.
they talked, smiled, chatted.
and in the car, gu ma told dad, "wa. i'm surprised william spoke so much."
in the past ah pak used to be very cold.
so gu ma and uncle sherman were really pleasantly surprised.
time heals.
time does change things and people for the better i guess.
am heartened to see this reconciliation.
had dinner with c, a, a.
had really yummy ramen.
and ice cream after that.
thanks for ice cream treat.
was glad for catch up.
had lunch with b, j, j, c.
at fullhouse.
pretty place.
glad to hear how God's been working in all their lives.
love catch up times.
had easter egg painting in office.
glad they had fun. (:
thank You Lord.
for opportunities.
opportunities to talk to friends about You.
it was scary.
uncertain.
not sure how to respond.
but You opened doors.
You open hearts.
You comforted me from 2 Tim.
not to be ashamed of the Gospel.
and that You've not given us a spirit of timidity.
but of power.
you reminded me.
that i was taught the Holy Scriptures since i was young.
which saved me.
and to hold fast to it.
and not be shaken or wavered by other teachings.
just wrote a note to a friend.
and comments in a book i want to pass to her.
Lord, speak to her through that.
thank you Lord for her.
it's been such a long week.
a week of dreams too.
lost in timor.
rockets coming my way.
i wonder what to make out of these dreams.
my mind's more rested now.
able to rest.
church tmr.
good night.
was glad for catch up.
had lunch with b, j, j, c.
at fullhouse.
pretty place.
glad to hear how God's been working in all their lives.
love catch up times.
had easter egg painting in office.
glad they had fun. (:
thank You Lord.
for opportunities.
opportunities to talk to friends about You.
it was scary.
uncertain.
not sure how to respond.
but You opened doors.
You open hearts.
You comforted me from 2 Tim.
not to be ashamed of the Gospel.
and that You've not given us a spirit of timidity.
but of power.
you reminded me.
that i was taught the Holy Scriptures since i was young.
which saved me.
and to hold fast to it.
and not be shaken or wavered by other teachings.
just wrote a note to a friend.
and comments in a book i want to pass to her.
Lord, speak to her through that.
thank you Lord for her.
it's been such a long week.
a week of dreams too.
lost in timor.
rockets coming my way.
i wonder what to make out of these dreams.
my mind's more rested now.
able to rest.
church tmr.
good night.
help me to trust.
Saturday, April 7
a call from a good friend.
a good friend called from overseas.it was a surprise.
he always gives me surprises like that.
it brightens up my day.
to know that a friend remembers me.
talking with him is as comfortable as always.
catching up on the times.
remembering the past.
it felt as if the months and years that passed were merely a few days.
that's something special about certain friends.
that comfortable sharing and listening.
just missing those times in the past.
when we were still young.
having fun.
going on mission trips together.
thank You Lord for giving us friends.
thank you for calling. (: (:
help me to trust.