On the evening of August 14th, 1982, my parents, my sister and I packed up and left our home in Hong Kong to a country on the other side of the world that none of us had ever been to – permanently. That was 29 years ago and there is no doubt in my mind that, despite the ups and downs that my family has experienced over those years, and especially when we first arrived, that it was the best decision my parents ever made.
My grandparents seeing us off at the airport
Twelve months ago this week, I dared to annoy and bore my friends and family by starting a blog and then making them read it. It all began because I had always wanted to write and, quite frankly, I was not about to be outdone by my then-seven-year-old nephew who had started his own blog, Kids’ Movie Guide. This is now my 44th post on this site, not counting the two travelogues I wrote for my photo blog Thursday Has A View which I created in March 2011.
It has been a long time since I read my earlier posts but when I look back at the titles of the earliest writings, there is no doubt they were all about how I could put a funny and positive spin on my work life which was pretty much making me miserable. A friend of mine said she liked that my posts were always so positive. The reality was that by writing, I was forcing myself to focus on the positives rather than the negative things that were motivating me to vent in public.
In case you hadn’t heard, apparently the world is coming to an end (again) on Saturday 21st May, which, as at time of writing, is only hours away for me. I am not sure exactly what time the world is supposed to end but I sure hope it’s not till late at night, say, after 10.30pm AEST, because one of my favourite episodes of White Collar (the one where Neal and Peter switch roles – seriously epic in how much fun it was) is scheduled to be on the air in Sydney at 9.30pm and I would like to be around to watch that again before I die. If not, well, at least I have seen it before, and I feel bad for those who have not seen the Season 2 finale because it was a really good one. Is that why all the shows have their season finales in the US this week?
I have another question…which timezone is the end of the world supposed to happen? Because, New Zealand is two hours ahead of me so if the world is ending in their timezone, then that means I actually have two hours less, but if it based on Pacific time, then I guess I have an extra 17 hours, in which case, I might even get to the SCG to watch some of the Swans game against the Hawks on Sunday…
It is often said that there are two types of people in this world when it comes to how they perceive life: those who look at it as the “glass half full” or the “glass half empty”. Before you run away screaming “Oh my God, Valerie is killing us with clichés!” and stop reading, I want to assure you, in the best Stephen Fry voice I can out on, that I will try my level best not to kill you with clichés (can’t promise anything on puns, innuendos or just pure boredom though! :D).
As many of you who are regular readers of my blog will know, the past few days have been a very emotional time for me with the loss of a school friend, Mary, who I had only recently reconnected with. The news hit me hard, much harder than I ever expected, and I was surprised by it. A few moments ago, I got a text message from my Mum telling me my Dad picked up his new hearing aid, much more high-tech than the very basic government-subsidised model he had been wearing for the past few years. Dad was overwhelmed with emotion by this new device which is allowing him to hear music again. My Dad is a natural musician – with no formal training, he could pick up any instrument and start playing tunes. With the hearing loss, his quality of life deteriorated and caused a lot of angst and frustration amongst the whole family. So with this latest news, I was once again brought to tears, this time from joy.
Less than two weeks ago, I wrote about a friend of mine, Mary, who married her long-time partner, Rodney, in a beautiful, yet simple, ceremony in Sydney (see “Picture of Love, Togetherness and Strength“). Last Friday, I was so proud of myself for using my new-found Windows Movie Maker skills when I made a short wedding video with the photos I had taken at their wedding and put it to music with a couple of Bruno Mars songs. It was my little gift to Mary for her 39th birthday. She had replied back, via Rodney, to say the video had put a smile on her face. Rodney was excited about being on YouTube.
Mary and Me in Adelaide, Nov 2009
Sadly, today, I awoke to the news that Mary had passed away this morning in Adelaide, having lost her brave battle with cancer. The news has greatly upset me all day for many reasons and I have been trying to find the right words to express this. The passing of a loved one is never easy to accept. The loss of one so young – a contemporary, well, actually younger than me by several months – with a young family and so much to live for, just adds to the craziness of how the world works. Perhaps the most frustrating (is that the right word?) part about this loss is that I feel like Mary and I only just “found” each other again 2 years ago after having only seen each other once or twice since we finished high school. When we caught up in November 2009 in Adelaide, we had even talked about meeting up in Melbourne one time when my football team, the Sydney Swans, played hers, Collingwood Magpies.
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