Here's To New Beginnings

After all the hype, we've finally moved on 15th September and settled in to our new home. The move did not go as smoothly as I expected because the weather decided to throw us a curve-ball. It rained buckets that day, representing a teary farewell to a place I called home for 14 years. Fortunately, we had the sense to cling-wrap everything as we were packing and as a result, there were no "casualities".

It was tough leaving our old place (see picture on top right), especially for me, even though there were a lot of painful memories tied to that apartment. But after the last box was moved out and transported to our new home, I stayed behind to walk around the house, remembering my dad writing his memoirs at his desk in his room and walking by the kitchen brought back memories of my mom standing in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove preparing dinner on weekends. Her signature dish was stir-fried corned mutton with long beans. It was my all-time favourite and I could almost smell it at that moment.

I remember when I first moved there from our two storey house back in 1992, I hated the place. But we had to move there due to circumstances beyond our control. Perhaps it was the circumstances that I hated, not the place. But as the years rolled on, it seemed like the most comfortable place on earth. And by last week, I was dreading the move to our new place. Although much more elegant than the old place with many luxurious comforts that I have accorded myself, I still felt a weight on my heart.

But in spite of the memories of my dad writing and my mom cooking, I also recall that I moved there with my parents but when leaving, my parents were no longer with me. While there, I lost a large part of my family through death as well as misunderstandings and quarrels. But on the flip side, I moved there as a son but left as a father. I moved there as a bachelor but left as a husband. I moved there as a fun-loving chap in his early 20s but left as a responsible adult.

Before I turned off the power to my now former home, I whispered a prayer for my dad and mom thanking them for the home that changed me from a playful youngster to a man, even though I gave them a lot of grief when we moved there. And as I embark on the next phase of my life in our new home with my wife and son, I look forward to the positive challenges ahead of me and hope that I can make this home a place that my son will remember fondly for the rest of his life.