The ties that bind

I committed to writing a reflective note about my birthday. As I thought about what I wanted to write, it became clear that I wanted to write about myself but more than that, I wanted this note to be about other people. No man, or indeed woman, is an island. As much as I crave for solitude, I need to constantly remind myself that life is all about people and connections.

Some people come into my life and I know they will be there till I die. Others appear at certain times and make an impression so deep and lasting that even when they fade out, I am no longer the same. And there are others, who have not been in contact with me for many years. But I know that as and when we do meet up, there is no barrier. We will be transported back to that time when we were young and foolish and so full of dreams, and we will behave as we did then. Yet others leave, and some of them leave graciously. I hope that when I meet them again sometime, somewhere, we can look at one another and smile, and pick up from where we left off.

So, I want to honour the ties that bind. 

To the people mentioned in this note, your presence in my life is a blessing to me. I thank God for you.

+ Every single person who whatsapped me, Facebooked me or smsed me to wish me Happy Birthday. I appreciate all your good wishes and made it a point to reply to all of you individually. Thank you. All of you made my day. J

+ My family, even though only half of them could make it for dim sum at Wah Lok because of my poor organisational skills, in particular my nephew whose eyes lit up when I mentioned that we could order Peking duck. To my elder sister, who gave me a DVF bag, and always whatsapps me the latest bag and shoe sales on online US websites, in particular, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Ralph Lauren. To my younger sister, who sometimes seems more adult than I am!

+ My extended family, whom I am grateful for. Thank you to all my uncles, aunties and cousins. I’m happy to say that we’re getting more and more new additions to this group. Two are flying in early next month, along with their parents. J

+ My BFFs - three who had dinner and coffee with me on the night of my birthday, and I know the one in Deutschland was with us in spirit that night, too. The one who loves her wrist, the one who loves to bake, the one who loves meat, and the one who loves justice; the group that never stops chatting, never tires of chatting and never runs out of things to chat about (contributed by the one who loves justice).

+ My very dear friends - One living in the US whom I message almost daily and confide in; one who just went to Penang; one who is now in Langkawi; one who has made it, wedding dress and all, to Dublin; one who is a fellow sojourner in Christ and alerts me to YWAM events among others; one who just bought her own place; one who is always open and honest with me; and one who was my shopping guru/consultant.

+ The Usual Suspects – never would I dare dream that I could meet such a solid bunch so late in my life. Thank you all for a fabulous time in HK, as well as for dinner + birthday sms dedication to GoodFellas at Timbre. Leave no man behind, indeed.  

+ WMC CM – thank you for the ministry which allows me to help others. In doing so, I am more self-aware and I have been ministered to in so many ways. The fellowship is always wonderful. I’m so looking forward to the October retreat.

+ The “A” list – the wonderful wordsmiths around me who get it that I am so focused that I seem sucked into my screen; that I talk/communicate only via Lync; that I am hard of hearing; that I can’t see well, too; that I am liable to hum/sing/raise my hands or stare at the ceiling at my desk; that I have a glazed look; that I go off-tangent sometimes; and that I decline lunch invites sometimes because I need my alone time. To the one who is going to Bali; the one who just came back from Sri Lanka; the one who is going to Australia; the one who was in HK; the one who loves Viet and Mexican food; and the one who loves salads. J

+ Others worthy of mention in the “A” list: to the one who treated me to delicious dry mee suah at a kopitiam and, more importantly, trusted me in many things; the one who treated me to mocha at Dimbula’s and kept repeating “you’re not 25 anymore, you know? You’re not 25 anymore, you know?”; the one whom I meet every day in the transport van and who shares a common love for anything creative and whom I hope will be very famous some day because I own some of his paintings; the one who brought me on a long and winding road to Shoebox Canteen with another, treated me to awesome seafood pasta, brought us to shop for accessories (although I bought only one accessory and many pairs of colourful socks); made a detour to Good Morning Nanyang Cafe at Telok Ayer Hong Lim Green Community Centre; and took a different route back to the office, thus ensuring that I don’t think I know how to get back to Shoebox Canteen on my own (but it’s okay, it’s alright, it’s fine); and to the others who make it such a joy for me to go into the office and to simply write, write, write, write and write.

+ The cat-lover, who whatsapped me to ask me to be by the side door around 2pm one day. I replied “okay” but subsequently switched back to work mode. Then a colleague whispered to me: “Hey, someone’s waiting for you in the pantry.” I jumped out of my seat and raced to the pantry, apologising profusely for forgetting. Apart from the DVDs that were returned to me, I was also handed a belated birthday gift - a Lin Hwai-min autographed book on Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, along with a nice hand-written note. It caught me by surprise, but it was a very sweet gesture.

+ The newsroom crowd – miss the buzz and I am so thankful that we make it a point to always catch up as and when one of us has a birthday. You are all keepers for life.

Thank you, Jesus. You are the Alpha and the Omega. May my life always reflect You, my Lord and my Saviour. :-)