I just cannot emphasise how precious my family is to me and how fortunate I am to have them in my life. Truth is we may not always see eye to eye and I may not get to see my extended family often but I still consider them indispensable. :')
Yesterday was an amazing day although it later on got neutralised by some bad news. Point is it started off amazing and I had one ball of a time celebrating my grandfather's 86th birthday!
When we got there, my grandfather's therapist, Melinda, was already there and he was so engaged in conversing with her he barely gave us any attention.
My grandfather is a very animated person and even though he suffers from Alzheimer's dementia, he is definitely still a man of wise words.
Above: he was telling Melinda how he ended up in Singapore (much against his will at that).
Every time he sees me, he assumes I'm still somewhere in Secondary School, which means I stopped ageing for 6 years and counting. Well, he believes he's 70. Anyway, whenever he sees me, he reminds me how important education is in Singapore. "The higher education you get, the more money you will earn in future," says the old man. I sort of figured this just means Singapore's focus on educational qualifications haven't really changed for a long, long time.
I creeped up beside him and flashed my camera in front of him. ;) Yes, I forced him into taking a selfie with me but you'll see he never looks into the camera because he's so fascinated with the flip screen and looking at his reflection in it is more interesting.
Melinda was also asked to take a photo with him. I can tell he genuinely enjoys spending time with her because she not only listens, she keeps the conversation going as well.
Kudos to my grandmother for preparing a feast for the mini party
The full spread looks nothing short of delicious food. At the top left hand corner, you see a huge bowl of chicken curry. That's actually cooked by my helper (who is a fantastic cook by the way). #justsaying
And then we began eating and we finished most of the food (I believe). I ate a lot of cocktail sausages yesterday and I just couldn't stop! I still haven't figured out why but I know I reminded myself how unhealthy they are each time I had one. ):
Of course, cannot exclude the highlight for the day!
Sponsored by my siblings, I bought a blackforest cake from emicakes. Honestly, they aren't any cheaper or more delicious than other bakeries but they do eggless cakes, which is perfect for vegetarians (like my grandfather).
What is a birthday with a birthday wish? ;-) But obviously my grandfather doesn't understand that so he's just chanting his usual prayer and... I guess that suffices.
Not the best photo but the birthday boy gets fed by his wife. :')
And then to end things off, we took a family photo (with everyone present).
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Disclosing a real family gem:
I believe this was taken in 2000, when I was 7. Oh, how we've all changed/grown. But this picture never grows old. :') Somehow, my idea of family is still the image above just that every one in my generation would eventually get married.
Sometimes we can't deny God's decisions to take certain people away from us and I suppose I've more or less accepted it.
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