Today I find myself singing, not even humming, the song Happy Wanderer, which my father thought us when we were kids. I love to go awandering... Along the mountain track... And when I go, I love to sing... My knapsack on my back...
And that makes me miss my father. I have been self-trained to be a happy wanderer so much that I get homesick so little. Or so I thought.
Since our family holiday in Guangzhou, China last May, I've seen how happy my father can get, just being in the company of his sister and his siblings' families. My father has an elder sister (2nd in the hierarchy of girls) in Guangzhou, and he used to have an elder brother in Guangzhou (3rd in the hierarchy of boys), too until he passed away of old age in 2001. But we remain close, in fact closer, to his family after he passed on.
Photos of the Guangzhou holiday are my best recent memories of my family spending quality time together. Our first trip was in Sep 2002, and our second trip was in May 2006. My father was smiling in every photo, the grinning from ear to ear type. Sometimes during the holiday I stole glances at my father, and he would always be caught smiling, even as he was talking. When he came back from China, he developed the photos and made captions on each photos.
The happiness my father is capable of achieving has made me pledge to bring my father back to Guangzhou at every possible opportunity. My father is the youngest of 10 siblings, and till today at 66 years old, he remains very much the baby of his family.
And that makes me miss my father. I have been self-trained to be a happy wanderer so much that I get homesick so little. Or so I thought.
Since our family holiday in Guangzhou, China last May, I've seen how happy my father can get, just being in the company of his sister and his siblings' families. My father has an elder sister (2nd in the hierarchy of girls) in Guangzhou, and he used to have an elder brother in Guangzhou (3rd in the hierarchy of boys), too until he passed away of old age in 2001. But we remain close, in fact closer, to his family after he passed on.Photos of the Guangzhou holiday are my best recent memories of my family spending quality time together. Our first trip was in Sep 2002, and our second trip was in May 2006. My father was smiling in every photo, the grinning from ear to ear type. Sometimes during the holiday I stole glances at my father, and he would always be caught smiling, even as he was talking. When he came back from China, he developed the photos and made captions on each photos.
The happiness my father is capable of achieving has made me pledge to bring my father back to Guangzhou at every possible opportunity. My father is the youngest of 10 siblings, and till today at 66 years old, he remains very much the baby of his family.
