Childhood Memories

Recently, Sharon, my cousin in the States, emailed us, her cousins, a story that she wrote of our childhood. It was a memory from our carefree days when we used to play games that we would just pulled out from our imagination. We weren't rich neither were we paupers but we had cousins and when we cousins come together, creative juices followed and viola! A game starts.

Screams and squeals of delight can often be heard. We used to look forward to the weekends and holidays so much so that we could hang out and play. I would seriously never trade my memories of childhood for anything. For some people, they see their cousins probably once a year but for us, we used to see our cousins all the time. Well, of course, we grew up and life gets the better of us but there's always still contact. When I'm in States, I definitely will pop by to see Sharon, Eelynn and Jolynn. Will be missing them this year, hopefully, next year, I'll be able to catch up with them. Lina is still one of my best friend. She was my bride's maid at my wedding and boy, did she glow!

And now, I think of Jo Claire. She's my first niece and I wonder if we continue to live overseas, will I really get to know her and watch her grow? Will my future kids have the same close relationships that I have with my cousins as with Jo Claire? Eelynn and Jolynn used to live in Manila when they were kids. Every summer, almost without fail, they would hop on a plane and spend about 2 months in Spore. And I wonder will my future kids do the same and if so, will they have close bonds with their cousins like Eelynn, Jolynn and me? I was raised in a family that has close bonds not only with the nuclear family but also with our uncles, aunts and cousins. And I wonder living overseas, will my future kids have that.

Sometimes I wonder, when is it time to return home? In a way, I'm not really homesick or feel that it is time head home. I like it here in Hong Kong. I've close friends and am happy here but sure, there are times that I wish I was home just so that I can carry Jo Claire or see Ziwei's new baby, Daphne. But....it is all part of living overseas.