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You will only see them five times.
This hit me to the core, next thing I know, I was boarding a flight home. I booked a ticket twice the price of my monthly rent in the big city.
My job requires me to stay miles away from the place I was once familiar with. Home became a foreign piece of land to me. Looking back at the day I started living a life on my own, I was over the moon- finally, freedom, and I’ll get to see the other side of the globe. Cross the sea. Watch the stars from the other side of the galaxy. But I kid you not, that first night feels like an endless one, a nightmare I cannot run away from.
HOME.
As I sit on this plane, I realized how far I travelled away from my nest. I was exposed to the world of uncertainties, strangers, different languages, a foreign culture and completely odd practices I was used to. I flew across continents.
Living the dream means stepping out of your comfort zone. Let that sink in.
I was back to the place where I learned my first steps, maybe even my first word. It feels surreal, I was back after a decade of being away. I was happy. Overjoyed.
The article that told me “You will only see them five times” is probably rejoicing now. You won. You are now the biggest influence for me to see my loved ones after gruelling years of being overseas.
I have never given it a single thought before; I loved being alone. In many ways, it is therapeutic. That solace, stillness of the night where you can read your favourite author, drink your tea and put your tired feet up. No one will care. No siblings to annoy you. You get the place all to yourself.
I was sipping my morning coffee and my parents were seated with me. I can see their wrinkled skin, but one thing never changed — the spark on their eyes when they talk to me, the same set of eyes that looked after me when I was little.
I witnessed what “getting old” meant for them. This tore me apart. My heart sank. Why do they look old? Why does Mom walk slowly now? When did Dad lost that…
