FAMILY TOGETHEREDNESS

SB is back from Tokyo for a short three-week holiday.

Although I really do not want to inflate her ego any larger than it currently is, life feels colourful again with her around. Despite our extremely opposite natures and outlook in life, there is really no substitute for each other’s company. There is no subterfuge with each other.

Family times feel happier, as the parents wallow in the joy of having the family complete together again. And of course, SB has been playing filial daughter these three weeks, supposedly to make up for the times when she couldn’t be with them physically, a sharp contrast to my usual un-interactive self.

Three weeks is two thirds over. Another week or so and we have to say goodbye, till we next meet again. Another two weeks to get over the emptiness in the adjacent bedroom until next February. Rinse and repeat for another three years. And then we may be able to open the family home doors to welcome back Dr SB. T, future professor, Media Studies, XX University; the dearest wish of my ever-ambitious daddy.

For me, it is enough that SB, sister of JT, comes back to roost in the same nest. To share leisurely afternoon teas in chi-chi hotels, to pore over magazines, discuss haute couture and share strategies for catching rich expat husbands or young toy-boy lovers, to discuss whether we prefer Carrie Bradshaw’s or Samantha Jones’ lifestyles.

Goodbye, till we meet again then, Doc.