The past two weeks has been the best I’ve had for a long time. My 1.5 year old nephew was in town for a short visit. Two weeks is awfully short when you are having a good time. As his grandparents put it, “by the time he settled down and got familiarized with things, it’s time to go back…”. I can sense the sadness when they say that. I felt exactly the same way too. I had to shoot today, so I can’t send them off to the airport. During the afternoon break, I went home to see him.
I have to admit that I have never felt that way about kids before. They used to be cute, adorable and highly intelligent. But I have never attempted to communicate with them, besides teaching them to say stupid things like, “be a man… do the right thing” etc. There’s a reason why my friends keep their children away from me after they turn two:P Just before I left for the dinner, he woke up from his nap, but I can tell he didn’t have enough. He was getting a little cranky and refused to let me carry him. So I settled to just patting his head and it was time to go. Then all of a sudden, he stretched both hands towards me and called “ka gu” (that’s how he calls me… supposed to be ah gu (dialect for uncle)… but he can’t pronounce it properly yet). He clinged on to me tightly and I carried him for awhile. It was such a wonderful moment. I know I’m going to miss him alot.
Over the past two weeks, I witness the joy he brought to the family. My mum never felt happier. When I showed some pictures I took of Julius to my dad, he went “yay”, imitating how Julius would’ve done. I think they’d miss him alot more than I do.
On my way back from the wedding, I caught myself smiling at the memories from the past 2 weeks. I begin to understand how a parent feel about their children. And how my parents felt about us. It’s been an amazing experience and an insight to what we used to be.
Alritie, just done with downloading images. Time to catch some sleep. I promise some new images next week.
To all mums out there, Happy Mother’s Day. Love you mum.
