Lest I Forget

it is now exactly an hour after i sent mum and dad off at parkside. the room is back to its familiar spacious self again. it was like a dream, that 10 days with mum and dad around in uk and finally in camb. but it was real that they were here. they left so many things behind that it was impossible it was all but a dream. i was still wearing the plum coat and jeans when i stared into the mirror. the dinner they made for me is still in the pot all ready to be heated up. the orchid in the best position in the room. the carpet spick and span because dad vacuumed it before he left. and the shoes and food box reorganised in the way mum left it. but i couldn't find my white fluffy slippers... maybe they packed it in by accident and brought it home...

dad texted me just before he was to board the flight to london gatwick. i could imagine their excitement about coming to the uk. they had wanted to come since my first year here, but it was always too expensive. mum told me that she never thought of visiting scotland, and it all showed when both of them were excited over the sheep we saw on the train from edinburgh to camb. then mum said camb is the most beautiful place, more beautiful than york or edinburgh; it is pretty on any street or corner. i agree with her. i've always wanted to show mum and dad all i love about camb, and i am really glad they came. i hope they can come and see the rose-filled gardens and go punting in june, and marvel at how it would still be bright at 9pm, like how they marvelled at how dark it could get at 3.30pm.

i tried to show mum and dad how independent i could be here, to prove that the little girl has grown up. so i tried to take charge of all the planning, the bookings, the itineraries, the grocery shopping, the cooking, the washing up. and i realised how bossy and impatient i could appear to be sometimes, wanting things done my way. oh, the impatience. i need to be more patient and gentle in speech. but towards the end of the 10 days with mum and dad, i relented. i let them do the dishes, vacuum my floor, and buy me things. it was lovely to be taken care of again, like tohave people to nag you to drink warm water, to shower earlier, to eat proper food. parental care is one great blessing from God, and i am all too grateful that my parents are god-fearing people too.

so it is just 6 more months before i see the dear faces again in the uk, or maybe in europe. then it would be more familiar faces because the 2 brothers will be coming too. but i have a scary task before m-- i need to meet the tripos first, and i really want to do well because i am given so much to be able to do so. i am still scared of it, though i have been through it twice. but there is a hope that i think will sustain me. like a friend who always said 'for the life ahead'.