cakap cakap...Life.

Different as we all are, we are alike in more ways that we would care to admit. 

When morning comes breakfast would be had by me in Melbourne. A steaming hot cup of Nescafe, a bowl of Weetbix with Soy Milk, grapes, peaches and possible a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of sugar to go with it....and as I eat breakfast I will be sitting at my desk surfing the Net to bring me up to speed on what else is happening in other parts of the world.

In Bangsar when morning comes there will be some of you sitting down to a breakfast of Nasi Lemak and a cup of steaming hot Nescafe with two spoons of condensed milk in it to give it that "oomph" and as you eat breakfast you too will be sitting at your desk surfing the Net to bring yourself up to speed on what else is happening in other parts of the world. 

 All over the world  people are doing the same thing in the morning...having breakfast and catching up with what else have happened around the world while they were asleep. 

Now can you remember what you read this morning? 

I think by the evening not much would be remembered by you because as the day unfolds what is retained within your memory are only those things that really matters to you and you only. Anything that does not affect you personally you will dismiss with as much ease as you would throw a burger wrapper in the bin once you are through with eating the burger. 

But there have been a few things that time has not erased from my memory. I was a student in London when the first sketchy news of the May 13 riots reached me and I rushed to Malaysia Hall for more news. I remembered where I was when Kennedy was assassinated - both Kennedy's. I remembered I was with my wife negotiating the Jalan Pahang/Jalan Tun Razak roundabout when news of Elvis death came through the radio of the car we were in. I remembered the passing of my Mother and Father with painful clarity... all these are what my memories are made up off.

I also remember the first time I met my wife, the day we got married and many many days of our life together. I remember too the happiness of spending time with our children before life and circumstance required us to go live our own lives the best way we can...my daughter with her family in Canada and me with my son and wife in Melbourne.  

All this I am sure have been what many of you too have gone through in life and you will know that when all is said and done....it is family that matters. It is family that you go back to when times are good or bad, it is family that you turn too in sadness and happiness and when all is lost or won, it is family that you want to have around you in that exact moment of failure or triumph.

And that was how I felt yesterday when I was told by the doctor that all was not well with me. I spoke about it to my wife first.... I think she listened to my voice talking to her but I do not think what I was saying registered in her consciousness....but it made me feel good that I had shared it with her. And then I spoke with my son and we discussed what has to be done next to "manage" the situation. Diet, treatment at St Vincent, medication, further tests...all the usual suspects....and then as I googled "renal failure" to learn more about it, he brought me a glass of water and reminded me that I must drink more water as it will be good for me.

The rest of the day was spent in contemplation of life....especially life as we have been living it since my wife was diagnosed with dementia...living life in and around her needs and her wants. I slept early exhausted mentally by the events of the day. 

It is now 5.28 AM and I have been awake since 4 writing my thoughts away. Life is still good....and good morning to those of you who do read what I write....and now I must again gather my thoughts on how the rest of the day, and the rest of my life, is to be lived.