12.31.11
December 31, 2011
It’s the last day of 2011. We’re here at mom’s. I’m expecting a quiet night as we don’t really have anything planned aside from eating, heheheh. Now that all the craziness of the holidays has passed, there’s more time for me to reflect on this past year. Sure seems like lots has happened. I think it feels doubly busy because I’ve been trying to keep mom company as much as I can, so my time is often split between my family and mom time. As I spend more time with mom, I’m also getting to know her friends better, and I feel like they are now becoming my friends as well! That is, I’m celebrating special events with them like their Christmas parties and Thanksgiving parties, monthly gatherings, and now even funerals. Just this last week, I took mom to two funerals.
It’s really only after Dad passed, that I understand funerals more. I was usually one of the youngest in our gang, so often times I was excluded from going to funerals and even only learned of family friends and relatives passing after the funerals. So I learned a lot from Dad’s funeral, and now I can appreciate other people’s funerals much better. It’s interesting how different people send off their loved ones in different ways according to their religions. But regardless of religion, I can see the grief and sorrow is still the same. I especially liked to hear the stories friends and families of the deceased shared regarding how their lives were affected by the deceased. I am touched with how much kindness there is out there. I feel like knowing their stories helps to make me a better person. If not in deed, then at least in understanding. Also regardless of religions, it’s common for many to believe they will eventually be reunited. So I think really it’s just the temporary separation that makes it so sad, not being able to see them or hear their voices.
Another thing I’ve been able to enjoy this year hanging out with mom is learning more about her and her generation. As I hang out with her friends, I hear their stories and get to see some of their pictures in their younger days. So many of them were so cute, and full of life. I realize, though, from talking to them that they grew up in a very different time. They grew up in a time when the U.S. was the symbol of freedom and opportunity. They formed their opinions of the U.S. at a time before the Korean War, the Vietnam war, the first and second Gulf Wars, etc. It was a different time when no one knew about top secret programs that worked to undermine the stability of other countries or experiments performed on unsuspecting U.S. and foreign citizens. It was a time when everyone believed that the U.S. would do no wrong. And so these senior citizens continue to live with such beliefs. They worked hard all their lives to live the American dream. My dad did that, and to the day he died, he was still very patriotic. He was actually on a vacation to see Mount Rushmore, a symbol of the America he so loved. Dad always bought American cars, never Japanese cars to the day he died. It took a long time before he would eat at Japanese restaurants, and eventually buy Japanese electronics. After all, so many electronics are from Japan, it’s become the American thing to do to buy Japanese electronics and eat sushi! As this year comes to a close, I think of these senior citizens, and how one by one they are passing. Soon their generation will be gone leaving us with only photographs and written letters. For some more fortunate, there will be audio recordings, and possibly video footage preserving a very brief moment in time.
Well, it seems like the gang is getting hungry, so I’m gonna leave it here for now. I was hoping to write of more “happy” reflections, but I guess I’ll start the new year with those instead. Oh, yeah, I also took some pictures of some of the Christmas things I worked on that I would like to share on my blog, heheh. It was hectic, but it was fun, so I’m already thinking of getting ideas for next Christmas! :D I’ll try to get a head start so that the close of the year won’t be as crazy. So goodbye 2011!!!! Hello 2012!!!!
Happy New Year to everyone!
Marlakins
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