On this occasion, I would like to highlight a past blog post of mine. Its significance and reason behind this highlight shall be made known to my gentle readers at a later stage. Thank you for your patience...
How my Hols got Worse and Better Again
It is extremely rare that I would relate a day's events in such detail for I find that the monotony of modern life has rendered a large part of the day meaningless. However, today's events has certainly shocked me out of existence and got me back again which renders it worthy of relation and discussion.
For those who are personal friends or acquaintances of mine (i.e. having some sort of online contact with me), one could already guess that today certainly is one of those days in which technology triumphs over the human. Yes, I have brilliantly busted a laptop for no conceivable reason. Such occurrences truly compels me to actually roll up my sleeves and go back to basics of self-sustainability. Well, technology has certainly become part of a lifestyle rather than a tool but its temperamental nature certainly irks me. That's the tumultuous highlight of the day.
The main highlight of the day that was most heartening would be a visit to my grandfather's house. It has certainly been ages since I've visited that gentle old man. I certainly owe a part of who I am to him since he took care of me during my primary school years. With his eloquence and intelligence, he managed to convinced the principal to allow him to visit me during school hours almost every single day. Those few fleeting years actually do form a very fond memory of him.
He certainly is an extremely knowledgeable man in all areas. The amazing thing is that his knowledge extends from the days of yore to the present ongoings in the world. That wealth of knowledge is certainly commendable and I do wished his health afforded him the strength to see me during my secondary school years which did not come to pass.
That one hour conversation, though mostly intellectual, was certainly enlightening. Not only did it helped in updating my knowledge of current affairs (which is currently lacking as most of my alert, waking hours are dedicated to the dreaded SEA history) but seeing him in his golden years certainly made me respect him for how far he has come as a man, a father and more importantly, a grandfather to me. Though he has certain reservations or mindset which does come into conflict with mine, I often find myself grinning at his conservative mindset. Perhaps my respect has rendered this conflict trivial and even a cute contrast between the past and present.
Aside from my respect, reverence and nostalgia, there is a lingering sense of poignancy to the conversation. It has become very noticable that my grandfather's memory has begun to fail him at times as he mistook my age, my secondary school and even certain facts regarding our relatives. The man who use to spend a whole day reading every single article in the newspaper has difficulty reading and is subjected to reading the headlines or watching the news to update his extensive knowledge. Life is poignant and one's physical decay is inevitable as I begin to notice my grandfather's age beginning to creep up on him year by year. In this light, thoughts of losing him inevitably crowded my mind and suddenly death really became an issue that I struggled with mentally.
Morris "Morrie" Schwartz may be right in pointing out that death ends a life and not a relationship. A relationship that I will certainly treasure and remember for life.
How my Hols got Worse and Better Again
It is extremely rare that I would relate a day's events in such detail for I find that the monotony of modern life has rendered a large part of the day meaningless. However, today's events has certainly shocked me out of existence and got me back again which renders it worthy of relation and discussion.
For those who are personal friends or acquaintances of mine (i.e. having some sort of online contact with me), one could already guess that today certainly is one of those days in which technology triumphs over the human. Yes, I have brilliantly busted a laptop for no conceivable reason. Such occurrences truly compels me to actually roll up my sleeves and go back to basics of self-sustainability. Well, technology has certainly become part of a lifestyle rather than a tool but its temperamental nature certainly irks me. That's the tumultuous highlight of the day.
The main highlight of the day that was most heartening would be a visit to my grandfather's house. It has certainly been ages since I've visited that gentle old man. I certainly owe a part of who I am to him since he took care of me during my primary school years. With his eloquence and intelligence, he managed to convinced the principal to allow him to visit me during school hours almost every single day. Those few fleeting years actually do form a very fond memory of him.
He certainly is an extremely knowledgeable man in all areas. The amazing thing is that his knowledge extends from the days of yore to the present ongoings in the world. That wealth of knowledge is certainly commendable and I do wished his health afforded him the strength to see me during my secondary school years which did not come to pass.
That one hour conversation, though mostly intellectual, was certainly enlightening. Not only did it helped in updating my knowledge of current affairs (which is currently lacking as most of my alert, waking hours are dedicated to the dreaded SEA history) but seeing him in his golden years certainly made me respect him for how far he has come as a man, a father and more importantly, a grandfather to me. Though he has certain reservations or mindset which does come into conflict with mine, I often find myself grinning at his conservative mindset. Perhaps my respect has rendered this conflict trivial and even a cute contrast between the past and present.
Aside from my respect, reverence and nostalgia, there is a lingering sense of poignancy to the conversation. It has become very noticable that my grandfather's memory has begun to fail him at times as he mistook my age, my secondary school and even certain facts regarding our relatives. The man who use to spend a whole day reading every single article in the newspaper has difficulty reading and is subjected to reading the headlines or watching the news to update his extensive knowledge. Life is poignant and one's physical decay is inevitable as I begin to notice my grandfather's age beginning to creep up on him year by year. In this light, thoughts of losing him inevitably crowded my mind and suddenly death really became an issue that I struggled with mentally.
Morris "Morrie" Schwartz may be right in pointing out that death ends a life and not a relationship. A relationship that I will certainly treasure and remember for life.
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