The earth beneath my feet is turning either very, very slowly or unbelievably fast, depending on my mood, and the time of the day.
Ramadan is over. Hanim‘s family invited us over to celebrate Eid, and it really felt like a holiday compared to last year’s Eid, where we just stayed home and savoured a day off from work. Children opening gifts and the buffet-style lunch reminded me so much of Christmases back home.
Speaking of holidays, it’s been 6 years since I last spent the holidays back home. I spend so much time in front of the computer, but I’m not the best person when it comes to keeping in touch. Emailing is a rare occurence in my family; phone calls even rarer. Most of the time I don’t know where in the world we all are. I find out that my parents are no longer in Manila but have gone off to the US; I find out that my brother has switched college courses two years too late, that my sister’s moved house. That sort of thing.
My mother told me once that she knew I was the type of person she wouldn’t hear from unless she smoked me out of my hiding place. In a way, it’s true. But then, my family has never been and will never be a vocal family, with the exception of our eldest, Dr. Doom. A show of emotion is met with an awkward pause; throats are cleared and topics are switched. I cannot even remember the last time my father told me he loved me, or the last time my brothers told me they missed me. And vice versa.
We are probably just one of those families that survive on telepathy: a group of people who don’t intentionally steer clear of each others’ paths, but are just very good at the hiding part and very lazy when it comes to seeking.
Currently listening to:
Mùm
Yesterday was Dramatic – Today is OK
2 comments
Makis says:
Oct 6, 2008
All families have a funny way of showing love but there will always come a time when you will seek them. No matter how weird one family is, there’s always this strange connection that binds them. This post made me miss my crazy family!
*I really love clicking on the “I’m Human” button below. LOL
Sinta says:
Oct 7, 2008
I know exactly what you mean, because my family is like that. Only until recently my dad was in Nigeria, but he’s now moved to the Philippines. My mom and brother was in Switzerland, but now she’s moving to the Philippines and my brother’s coming over here. As for the rest of my family, God knows! If I didn’t have facebook I wouldn’t know what was going on. But I find that so long as everyone’s happy, it’s okay.