2012 In Review

Nothing quite makes a person appreciate life more than being reminded of one's mortality.

There were several signs which triggered me to write how I felt, after almost a year of hiatus.

The first sign

A couple of days back, I bugged my mom again about her preference for holding the tea ceremony at my solemnization. Since the boy and I were likely to be in Shanghai for the next few years, we weren't sure if we were going to have a wedding bash after the solemnization. No wedding bash = no tea ceremony, which Mom clearly cared about.

Her final decision, however, was quite different from what I was expecting. "Your brother reminded me about his Japanese teacher. Tan Sensei pushed back her plans to have children, so that she and her husband could first achieve other goals in life. But life never goes according to plans. Before she could move on to the next stage of being a mother, cancer struck."

"Even if both of you decide not to have a wedding banquet, it is fine with me. If you want to have kids without first holding the banquet, it is also okay with me. I would rather that you move ahead with life than to delay things because who knows what might happen next?"

The second sign

I got to know that a friend's friend had passed away recently from lung cancer. She was 32, just a year older than me. While I didn't know her personally, it was scary to realise how she could have been me. Me with the weak health, coughing on and off, asthma, allergic rhinitis and gastric problem.

I don't consider myself young, but I was certainly acting as though I was still invincible.

Giving thanks to 2012

On hindsight, I have many things to be grateful for. 2012 was a busy busy year, but there has also been a sense of accomplishment. I changed jobs, found a house that the boy and I could build a home out of, helped the boy relocate to Shanghai, renovated our place, planned a solemnization, and traveled to Bali with the boy, Seoul for work (x3) and Bangkok with the girls. I also managed to bring mom on a quasi-holiday.

Looking towards 2013

If anything, the coming year is likely to open with a bang, given the solemnization in January. But more importantly, amidst the usual busyness, it should hopefully be also about re-centering on the things that really matter: health, people I love, happiness.

Next up: Definitely a consideration of my goals for 2013.