So he met all my family, my roots and learnt the history of whence we came from, and how we perserved through poverty and rose out of others' condescending views of who we were and what we were made of. And I wonder if any of that came as a surprise?
I am not born of poverty. The family business began to thrive as I was born so I was lucky enough to be sent for private education. I am known amongst my friends for my weakness for good wine, luxurious spas and my penchant for expensive designer bags. It'd be difficult I think for me to teach my kids to be humble when I myself have turned my own back on my heritage by leaving the country. It will be a tough choice. Do I maintain a very traditional home so that my children feel a disconnect between the home and school like many first generation Australians? Or do I let S take on the reigns in dictating how a second generation Australian home should be run, banking in on the advantages that his parents cultivated in him by their selfless sacrifices when they left Malaysia and raised their kids in Sydney?
I get ahead of myself. S confides in me that he values how endearing it is to him that I care about family and am ever ready to care for them. And if that is all he sees in me after this trip then my family has taught me well and I needn't have worried that our humble beginnings would have frightened him.
Others only can long for such a big and supporting clan in spite of our stories and our dramas. We are wealthy, not of the monetary sort but in the love we possess for each other. As grandma cries as she drinks my cup of tea, as third aunty exclaims how much she'll miss me now that I am marrying to such a faraway place, as I see many familiar friends' and relatives' faces during the 600 pax reception we had in KL, I cannot help but let a few tears escape as I stifle the sadness in me over leaving them behind to start my new beginnings. And S stares at my glistening eyes in wonder. Perhaps not able to comprehend the depths of the emotions as he extends his unsure but reassuring hand. Or does he? As he whimsically agrees that we could raise our kids in Singapore so that I can be closer to my family...and speaks as much Mandarin as he knows, I can see how hard he is trying to love me, and to embrace my world as his own.
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Location:Airport Main Rd,,Maldives
