A Perfect Dream

12/08: Farewell

She had always been a figure of authority, tall, stern and unsmiling. I remembered the tiny booklet, where she would record my wrongdoings, and made me sign on it, before meting out punishment, which would leave me sobbing with long throbbing welts decorating my bottom. She was always strict but seldom unreasonable. As a kid then, I always made it a point to stay out of her way as much as possible till night comes.

He would usually arrive home from work by around ten. He would greet her with a hearty laughter, which never failed to melt her stern mask. If he was not tired after his shower, he would dangle his car keys at his kids mischievously. A few of them would immediately shoot their arms out to volunteer to go get supper with him. Those days, a car ride was considered a luxurious adventure.


The best times spent with the family was the short hour or so during supper. It was always done on the floor, with newspaper laid by those who were not in the supper buying party. We would all sit on the floor around the food, which was usually satay, fried kway teow, oyster omelette and hokkien mee. The food was sumptuous to a 5 year old like me then. He was always a cheerful man. It didn't matter how tired he was from work. When he was home, the house rang with his booming laughter. And he was always teasing her, bringing a coy smile to her face. At times they almost seem like a young courting couple.

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It has been been so many years since I last met them. She still carried herself tall and proud, but with a softer demeanour, mellowed by the years. My heart broke when i saw her shoulders trembling as she sobbed. My eyes watered when the family cried their last farewell. It was then that I realised it didn't matter how I felt like an outsider when I was staying with them. They have always treated me as part of the family. Today we mourned as one.

Goodbye Sir. You have been a good father and husband. Rest in peace.