My first injury in play school, or was that fight school papa enrolled me for?

I was viciously attacked in school yesterday. A rabid Rottweiler puppy was disguised as one of the innocent looking boys in my class. What a good disguise it was too. One moment we were playing for the same toy, the next second it reared its true evil self, impaling me with its hideous fangs and feasting on my tender meat. I let out a short whimper which attracted the attention of my teachers, who lunged to my rescue. By which time the creature had retreated into its human disguise. Alas, it was too late, I was already branded by the mark of the Beast, with its poisons coursing through my veins. The animal was placed in quarantine by my teachers and its parents were later alerted to its beastial tendencies. If it was left to me, I would have called the vet in to put the animal out of its misery and do the rest of the class a big favor.

Papa was duly informed soon after, but was still shocked to see the extent of the injury. I was non-plussed and was back to my normal self. No point dwelling on things we can't control papa said to me. He congratulated me on not retaliating and being so brave, but said something about enrolling me in the first available toddler karate class. Lucky for that animal, guns are illegal in Singapore.

Tomorrow Never Comes

If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly, and pray the Lord your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time that I'd see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss, and call you back for just one more.
If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would tape each word and action, and play them back throughout my days.
If I knew it would be the last time, I would spare an extra minute or two,
To stop and say "I love you" instead of assuming you know I do.

So just in case tomorrow never comes, and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you, and I hope we never will forget.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you'll surely regret the day
That you didn't take the extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss,
And you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today, and whisper in their ear,
That you love them very much, and you'll always hold them dear.
Take time to say "I'm sorry", "Please forgive me", "Thank you", or "It's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.

-Normal Cornett Marek

Happy Valentines Day my Darling Frances, wherever you are. We miss you more than ever. Show us the way.- Colin

Canine encounters of a close kind....a tale to remember


Oscar is a wonderfully gentle soul. That's probably the only reason I survived this encounter. I like Oscar. I wonder why we all don't get tails like his to play with. (Oscar is Aunty Diana's pet)

A festive favorite dish in Singapore- raw fish with yummy sweet spices!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
This year's the year of the Rat- agile, imaginative, resourceful and smelly! Just kidding...

I gave papa a cheap thrill the other day. We were travelling to school in the morning, when I let out a wet sneeze, a very wet sneeze. The kind that runs thick and sticky and dribbles for an eternity down the sides of my nose and neck as my fingers run through it. Well, as is usually the case, papa went into a frenzied panic, as the red light had just turned green in peak morning rush hour. He tried to juggle one hand on the steering wheel, while the other grappled with the tissue paper box, his head swinging like a pendulum, staring at me helplessly and then darting back towards the traffic in front. Alas, he knew it was futile. So in a desperate last act, he flung some tissue paper towards me, like a lifeguard's buoy towards a drowning man, and lo and behold! I picked the tissue up and wiped my snot off! The look of incredulity on papa's face was worth a thousand French fries. He had forgotten that I had grown. No longer that helpless bundle of cloth with 2 legs, arms and a head sticking out. It can think! Egad! That thing is alive! Hurray! What a wonderful world it is, now that papa can drive with me alone and not have to worry about me drinking my own snot.

Reflections...

"Care as the basis and precondition of all cure...
In a community like ours, we have put all the emphasis on cure. We want to be professionals: heal the sick, help the poor, teach the ignorant, and organise the scattered. But the temptation is that we use our expertise to keep a safe distance from that which really matters and forget that, in the long run, cure without care is more harmful than helpful.

What does it mean to care? Real care is not ambiguous. Real care excludes indifference and is the opposite of apathy. The word care finds its roots in the Gothic Kara, which means lament. The basic meaning of care is "to grieve, to experience sorrow, to cry out with."
...We tend to look at caring as an attitude of the strong toward the weak, of the powerful toward the powerless, of the have's toward the have-not's. And, in fact, we feel quite uncomfortable with an invitation to enter into someone's pain before doing something about it.

Still, when we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares.

You might remember moments in which you were called to be with a friend who had lost a wife or husband, child or parent. What can we say, do, or propose at such a moment? There is a strong inclination to say: "Don't cry; the one you loved is in the hands of God." "Don't be sad because there are so many good things left worth living for." But are we ready to really experience our powerlessness in the face of death and say: "I do not understand. I do not know what to do, but I am here with you." Are we willing to not run away from the pain, to not get busy when there is nothing to do, and instead stand in the face of death together with those who grieve?

The friend who cares makes it clear that whatever happens in the external world, being present to each other is what really matters. In fact, it matters more than pain, illness, or even death. It is remarkable how much consolation and hope we can receive from authors who, while offering no answers to life's questions, have the courage to articulate the situation of their lives in all honesty and directness....Their courage to enter so deeply into human suffering and to become present to their own pain gave them the power to speak healing words.

Therefore, to care means first of all to be present to each other. From experience, you know that those who care for you become present to you. When they listen, they listen to you. When they speak, you know they speak to you. And when they ask questions, you know it is for your sake and not for their own. Their presence is a healing presence because they accept you on your terms, and they encourage you to take your own life seriously and to trust you own vocation.

Our tendency is to run away from the painful realities or to try to change them as soon as possible. But cure without care makes us into rulers, controllers, manipulators, and prevents a real communion from taking shape.....Maybe simple because we ourselves are so concerned with being different from the others that we do not even allow ourselves to lay down our heavy armor and come together in a mutual vulnerability. Maybe we are so full of our own opinions, ideas, and convictions that we have no space left to listen to the other and learn from him or her.

To care means first of all to empty our own cup and to allow the other to come close to us. It means to take away the many barriers which prevents us from entering into communion with the other. When we dare to care, then we discover that nothing human is foreign to us, but that all the hatred and love, cruelty and compassion, fear and joy can be found in our own hearts."


-Henri JM Nouwen