Sunday, April 29, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
On Goodbyes
My maternal grandfather passed away when I was 12, in Primary 6. It was my first experience with death. I remembered not crying at all. This was rather odd since I sobbed rather easily (watching crappy tv shows, reading chicken soup for the soul). The adults around me were much more upset. I recalled playing cards with my cousins while everyone else busied themselves with the HDB style void deck funeral.
When he was about to die, my mom asked me whether I wanted to go see/say goodbye (i.e. walked down a few flight of stairs to my grandfather's place). I didn't go because I said I was afraid. I wasn't really afraid. Perhaps I was somewhat hesitant to confront death. I don't know. Sometimes, I wished I went although I didn't think it would have mattered to my grandfather. I saw him a couple of hours before his death and a few minutes after his death. Just not at that very moment of death. I'm so curious (I know, it is so inappropriate) about death.
When I was younger, my grandfather used to show me cats around the neighbourhood. And he used to fold his cigarette boxes into little containers. I was fond of the smell and texture of the cigarette boxes. Yar, the cigarettes probably killed him before his time. I remembered that my grandfather once made some contraption with some rubber bands and plastic (maybe a rubber band around the tires of a truck / bicycle) to entertain me and my brother. I tried to do it myself but never got it to work.
I sometimes wished I was religious so I could reassure myself that there is life after death. For now, I have the certainty of ambiguity. Blah! I have so many questions for my grandfather (and also my paternal grandparents + great grandparents) but I don't think the questions would matter once I'm not alive. If souls exist, do they have existential crises? That's a rather funny thought.
When he was about to die, my mom asked me whether I wanted to go see/say goodbye (i.e. walked down a few flight of stairs to my grandfather's place). I didn't go because I said I was afraid. I wasn't really afraid. Perhaps I was somewhat hesitant to confront death. I don't know. Sometimes, I wished I went although I didn't think it would have mattered to my grandfather. I saw him a couple of hours before his death and a few minutes after his death. Just not at that very moment of death. I'm so curious (I know, it is so inappropriate) about death.
When I was younger, my grandfather used to show me cats around the neighbourhood. And he used to fold his cigarette boxes into little containers. I was fond of the smell and texture of the cigarette boxes. Yar, the cigarettes probably killed him before his time. I remembered that my grandfather once made some contraption with some rubber bands and plastic (maybe a rubber band around the tires of a truck / bicycle) to entertain me and my brother. I tried to do it myself but never got it to work.
I sometimes wished I was religious so I could reassure myself that there is life after death. For now, I have the certainty of ambiguity. Blah! I have so many questions for my grandfather (and also my paternal grandparents + great grandparents) but I don't think the questions would matter once I'm not alive. If souls exist, do they have existential crises? That's a rather funny thought.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Spelling Fail
I always hated spelling tests... especially impromptu spelling tests I used to get in JC. I cannot spell to save my life. Thank you Spell Check.
What prompted this random post? I tried to spell "bother" and couldn't. I was bothered with my inability to spell "bother". -___- I had to freaking google search several bad permutations of the word before the google brain coughed up "bother". At least I could recognize it!
When I was in JC, I couldn't spell the word "further". I had to ask my friend for help. My own embarrassment at my inability to spell, permanently (I hope) etched that spelling into my brain.
And I always had terrible handwriting during English composition. Maybe my terrible handwriting hid my terrible spelling.
Dyslexic? Probably.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
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