2024 flashed by quickly, like the years of recent past. It’s funny how in your younger days, how you wished time would fly in school, getting past exams and milestones, only to find yourself later on in your older years wondering what happened during the past 12 months. Daily routines become mundane and chores become repetitive, especially for those of us who are parents. But with each passing year, in ideal situations, we gain a little more wisdom, and more often than not, comes with experience, sometimes positive ones, sometimes, not so positive ones. As I reflect, I recall 3 experiences this year.
The fragility of life - About exactly a year ago I caught COVID, but strangely after the recovery, I found myself in bouts of pain above my front teeth, somewhere between the nose and the teeth. GP had incorrectly assumed it was a sinus infection but after 2 courses of antibiotics later, a couple of x-rays and a CT scan, a cyst was seen from the results which required surgery. I was eventually referred to the dental surgeon, who gave quite a grim outlook. Depending on how the surgery turned out, there was the risk of losing quite a few front teeth, which would be quite a life altering experience. Long story short apart from looking like a puffer fish for a few days the the surgery went alright. The cyst was benign.
Family - for those of you who know, my dad passed away a few months ago. I never knew him. We received a call from the police informing us of his demise. Within a matter of 24 hours he was cremated at mandai, only present were my aunts who had sacrificially supported him throughout his life and the family he abandoned, which I had later realised had gone to the extent of blocking my number not only on your own phone but on my aunt’s phones as well. It was heartbreaking to realised the very person who was supposed to love you unconditionally had gone to the extent of causing hurt to us.
What exactly are we striving for?