Today was Grandma's 80th birthday. It was a huge affair with her siblings travelling many hours by car to attend the birthday celebration. And this is just part one. Some relatives from the US will be joining us in Sept for a belated birthday celebration.
My grandma was one out of 13 children born in Malaysia. Our family was one of the first Christianized families in the coastal settlements of China and left for Malaysia in hopes of a better life as war and poverty ravaged China. The lord has traced us down all these generations even when some of us has gone astray. Today as I set amidst many faces I barely recognize due to years of separation, I wonder-what if Ah Ma had not come to Singapore? After she was the only one out of the 13 then ventured south. What if? What would my life be like?
Providence, they say. It's been all mapped out before this thought even occurred.
Why are the lives of my cousins so different from mine? We don't even speak the same language. Some have gone on to migrate to Australia which is ironically, friendlier to the Chinese population than Malaysia which the Chinese helped to build but the thought doesn't escape me and loops round my brain.
I'm thankful to see them. All the grand uncles and grand aunties. God knows how long it'll be before we meet again. They are getting on their years and with our eldest grand uncle already with the Lord, the clock is ticking fast. They live 10 hours away by driving and GPS doesn't always point us where want to go. Also, I don't speak my dialect at all which is what they speak.
I want know so much more about my family, my roots and how the Lord intercepted and made us what we are today. I want to know the individual strands that form the tapestry but the bits are so hard to gather and collect.
Documentation was scanty at best. We have hardly any photos, records etc. All I have are vague memories of my great grandma before she passed on. Nothing said about great grandpa. I wonder why. No one seems to appreciate when I probe so I shut up.
What a pity. Perhaps I will only find out when my number in heaven is called.
No comments:
Post a Comment