A Drive Down (Up) Memory Lane
A very rare occasion it was indeed where a last minute decision was made to hitch a ride with my parents in their car to travel up north last week. They were heading to Taiping (my birth place) for the annual cheng beng (homage to the ancestors) and I was to SP for my usual work these days. On the way, we slipped into a stream of conversations about life and death for a close relative of ours was then admitted to the hospital and was in critical condition. Among his multiple complexities was water found in his lungs - a critical condition that I was in when I was only 4 months old, recounted my father in a serious tone. My mom said they were worried sick and were in and out of hospital countless times to take care of me, while my great grand mother was at home babysitting my healthy twin sister. Tubes and more tubes were all over my fragile and seemingly small naked body. Every other day, I 
had to be injected with antibiotics to keep me going. Both my arms were patches of blues and blacks and some areas were even swollen due to those injections. My father almost broke into tears recalling those grueling moments of my struggle to stay alive. He said I have reached heavens door and passed it by. I knew exactly how shattered my parents must have felt then for I am now a parent myself. The pain of witnessing your own child suffers in sickness or excruciating pain is the ultimate nightmare of any parent. It feels like the cut of a knife through your flesh and bone. The pain is in total silence and it echoes deep within oneself and some may even be haunted by such traumas for the rest of their lives. After more than two months of pain and agony, I managed to pull through such a big ordeal for a tiny baby. I have no recollection of this particular incident except for a small mark on my chest to remind me of my painful journey. Being the "weaker" twins has not affected my life a 
single bit. My twin sister and I grew up like any other girls back in a small town called Kota Bharu. We had heaps of fun for as far as I could remember, teachers and friends would always get mixed up for we looked so alike, dressed in identical dresses and shirts that they could hardly tell us apart. Can you imagine how happy it is for a child to grow up sharing the same things in life, having double the fun in everything we do? It was awesome. Of course, this fun unique "identical" element we share gradually wears off as we grow older. But the good old memories remain. To my twin sister, happy belated birthday to you too!
A very rare occasion it was indeed where a last minute decision was made to hitch a ride with my parents in their car to travel up north last week. They were heading to Taiping (my birth place) for the annual cheng beng (homage to the ancestors) and I was to SP for my usual work these days. On the way, we slipped into a stream of conversations about life and death for a close relative of ours was then admitted to the hospital and was in critical condition. Among his multiple complexities was water found in his lungs - a critical condition that I was in when I was only 4 months old, recounted my father in a serious tone. My mom said they were worried sick and were in and out of hospital countless times to take care of me, while my great grand mother was at home babysitting my healthy twin sister. Tubes and more tubes were all over my fragile and seemingly small naked body. Every other day, I 
had to be injected with antibiotics to keep me going. Both my arms were patches of blues and blacks and some areas were even swollen due to those injections. My father almost broke into tears recalling those grueling moments of my struggle to stay alive. He said I have reached heavens door and passed it by. I knew exactly how shattered my parents must have felt then for I am now a parent myself. The pain of witnessing your own child suffers in sickness or excruciating pain is the ultimate nightmare of any parent. It feels like the cut of a knife through your flesh and bone. The pain is in total silence and it echoes deep within oneself and some may even be haunted by such traumas for the rest of their lives. After more than two months of pain and agony, I managed to pull through such a big ordeal for a tiny baby. I have no recollection of this particular incident except for a small mark on my chest to remind me of my painful journey. Being the "weaker" twins has not affected my life a 
single bit. My twin sister and I grew up like any other girls back in a small town called Kota Bharu. We had heaps of fun for as far as I could remember, teachers and friends would always get mixed up for we looked so alike, dressed in identical dresses and shirts that they could hardly tell us apart. Can you imagine how happy it is for a child to grow up sharing the same things in life, having double the fun in everything we do? It was awesome. Of course, this fun unique "identical" element we share gradually wears off as we grow older. But the good old memories remain. To my twin sister, happy belated birthday to you too! 
No comments:
Post a Comment