Saturday, January 27, 2018

The Year That Was




2017 was a year of many memories, some pleasant, others unpleasant.
Among the pleasant events was our move into our permanent home, a decent sized apartment in a standalone tower block.
It has a balcony where I can now grow plants, a hobby that I missed desperately when we sold our landed home and moved into temporary premises that didn’t allow me to indulge in my love for plants, especially house plants. Now my balcony has pots of house plants that give me great joy as I see them transform from tiny plants into beautiful greens of varying sizes and shades.


Meeting up with my class of 1959 buddies a couple of times in the capital city had us going down memory lane and we are so blessed that we still have a dozen of us still able to make these luncheons, albeit, grey, pleasantly rounded or bamboo thin. Our spirits are high and we’re like the school girls we were eons ago, giggling and still arguing the way we used to! Old is truly gold.

Getting together with my siblings for meals and catching up was always a happy occasion as we seldom have the opportunity to have everyone together at the same time. The bah kut teh breakfasts with my younger brother (he’ll be 72 next month!) are de rigeur whenever I happen to be in town. After breakfast, we would walk to the market to buy fruits and last year, he bought me different types of durians, jackfruit and pineapples as well as rambutans. We all share a love of good, tasty food.

The wedding of my nephew to his sweetheart was the highlight of the year. I saw relatives whom I had not seen for years and it was great that we could catch up while enjoying the delicious dishes of the wedding banquet. 

My sisters and I also met up with our former sister-in-law who took us to Jenjarom to see the beautiful temple gardens that were beautifully decorated with plants and lights as well as colorful sculptures of the Rooster.

However, the unpleasant memories are those associated with pain and the pain came in different degrees. First was my fractured toe. My foot hit the door jamb as I was rushing out from my bedroom. It was two months before it healed and I had to stay home most of the time.

Then came the most excruciating pain of all. When I got up from my desk, a sudden spasm of pain shot right through from my waist to my left foot. I couldn’t place my foot on the floor and I couldn’t walk. The slightest movement had me shrieking in pain.

I was hospitalized for the pain and heavy doses of different painkillers enabled me to settle for the night semi-reclining as I couldn’t lie down flat.  
   
Xrays and an MRI revealed that the last disc in my spine had been compressed and a sudden movement had triggered the pain.  Fortunately, the specialists concurred that there was no need for surgery (Praise the Lord) but I have to be very careful when I move. No sudden movements but to take it slow and easy.

Perhaps the most painful of all was the moment that someone whom I had considered to be a very good friend, simply disappeared without any explanation although arrangements had been made to meet up for lunch and also to visit the Land Below The Wind, taking the same flight. There had been no explanations for both no shows and I felt very hurt and let down. I always value my friends and will never let them down in such a manner. I subscribe to the belief that a man's word is his honor and breaking his word shows him in bad light, especially when no reason is given.

2018 will be a better year, I hope and I look forward to the incoming Chinese Lunar New Year, which will be the Year of The Dog, Man’s best friend.



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