11 minutes

January 17, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

It was the longest 11 minutes of my life. My mum could not be aroused. Not by her palliative doctor, who thankfully was present at the time, for her weekly visit. Not by sister number 3. Not by me. My mum was a little under the weather the previous Sunday evening. Phlegm and cough. […]

Going to the movies

December 13, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

After a 2-year hiatus, due largely to Covid-19 and choice of cinema worthy movies, my husband and I watched ‘No Time to Die.’ A definite watch-in-the-cinema James Bond movie. We didn’t know it at the time but we were amongst the earliest to see it in Malaysia. A day after it was released on Nov […]

Tis the season

December 6, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Deepavali 2021 was a non-event for me. It was just another day on the calendar. I didn’t feel like it. I didn’t want to celebrate. I didn’t make any Indian cake or ‘palavaram’ associated with the festival. Even my mum was a little subdued due to her ailing health. Deepavali 2020 was much better. It was […]

Live-in or stay-out

November 15, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I never thought I’d have to resort to outside help for my mum. I prided myself on being able to care for her – when she needed it and for however long. Actually, that’s what sister number 4 and I had discussed on several occasions. We will take care of our mum, between us. Of […]

One Sunday

November 1, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’m busy every day. Busier than when I was working and getting paid a decent amount of money. I’m constantly chasing my tail. Always something to do. Always exhausted. So, what is it I’m doing? Why am I busy? Why am I bone-tired? Simple. And yet I never thought of doing it until last Sunday. […]

It’s already October

October 11, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I didn’t know what to write about last week. There’s nothing exciting or fun happening at the moment. All that’s been happening are illness and death, and I’ve written quite a lot about that. Putting my thoughts on paper or rather in my blog has helped me address them a little. A mental therapy, of […]

88 today

September 27, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

It’s my mum’s 88th birthday today. It’s a super special birthday on many levels. My mum is super-duper special to me. 88 is a grand old age to get to. 88 is an auspicious number. In Chinese it means fortune and luck. As my mum is a quarter Chinese, she will receive abundant blessings of […]

Confusion

September 20, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how I was forgetting stuff more than usual. It was just after my mum started exhibiting some worrying symptoms of memory loss and confusion. She has forgotten this and that, like me, and like most of us, now and again. A birthday or anniversary. A scheduled […]

Mums

September 13, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I sent my husband to the airport last Saturday. The first time since January 2020 that we’ve both been to the airport. Also, the first time that he has flown to England minus me since we’ve been married. It feels quite sad and disconcertingly quiet to be home on my own. My husband is not […]

Not remembering

September 6, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I used to have a photographic memory. I could remember contents of pages and even page numbers where the contents could be found in books I’ve read. Now, I’d be lucky if I remember the title of a book, any book. My fading or loss of memory worries me. It frustrates me more. I was […]