12.3.26 - 68 - Day #7

-



Went for a swim - forgot my running shoes - so no running. But it was good to get into the pool again. The club is very busy now. When the boys were young there was no one at the club, but clearly the 60 year olds and the mid 50 year olds, like me, have discovered retirement.

Pa spends all day sleeping. I asked Ma if we should go to the hospital, but she said there was no point. She wanted him home and didn't want anything prolonged. But Pa would hate hospital as well. It was near impossible to get him to go. Uncle Gab came over last night and we told him. He was in shock, of course, as it was all so sudden. Yati was over to help me, which brought him over. 

I was thinking this morning that there are no manuals for how when babies are born. You learn all the time... but the more you take care of children the more you know how it works. I suppose it's like that with death as well. 

And the more you have accompanied people on their crossing over then the more you recognise the signs. A friend was very upset when I asked for advise. I think they were triggered. But I also don't understand with the abruptness. I have decided a long time ago that loads and loads of people I have known in my life are autistic. They just don't get it and need to double down. I no longer get upset with people anymore. 

It was nice to be back at the club. Back swimming. I did 10 laps with no bother. When I was younger it was difficult when I started back in. OK, i do run and swim very slowly, but that I am able to do so continuously is pretty cool.

Well, I should try some writing now. Then elements work, interspersed with doing comfort checks on Pa and Ma. And thereafter at 3 pm I'm going to the hospital with Jac. Oh I should get the LPA started.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geylang sepaku Geylang

-
Image
Geylang Serai is the place i feel most at home in Singapore. Possibly because a vast majority of the population are still Singaporean and i speak the language they speak there - Malay. Also, it hasn't changed that much. OK, it has, but i'd like to think it hasn't. We ate at the new market there which used to be a little better than an open sewer. But it was our open sewer and we loved it. Geylang was heaving with people getting ready for Ramadan. On the table we have sup kambing, otak-otak, nasi padang and rojak. Drinkswise we have lime juice, Kickapoo and teh. It is hot - really hot. We are all pespiring and we can feel our clothes stick to our skin and bellies and thighs. Our hair is continuously in our faces, dripping and sticking too. The only thing that brings relief is a soak in the pool or a shower and an airconditioned room. No wonder when the boys came back, the first thing they said was, ah, it's great to be back in th cool weather again!. Singaporeans love th...
Read more

19.3.26 - 74 - Eulogy: What will survive of us is love

-
Image
I wrote and read this for Pa at the service. It was in long hand, but I have it here typed out now. It is peppered with verses from the New Testament, because I was asked by the priest to refer to Jesus occasionally, so I made that concession. Big shout out to Ben and the Christian Community whom I spent many a delighted evening reading and discussing the Bible during Bible study class. =========================== Thank you everybody for coming here to honour the life of husband, father and legend which is Eric Sim Chin Seng. Pa crossed over on the 16th of March at 7.30 am. He went peacefully and gently. He breathed his way slowly past this life and on to the new one, leaving his bark, his body, which carried him and his indomitable spirit and endless capacity to love, for 81 years, to say farewell to one last time. This tribute is to you, for you, Pa, who always walked in the sacred steps of Jesus Christ and lived the best life which could be lived. Part I: John 1:14 "The word be...
Read more

The Central Business District

-
Image
The Thinker in the OUE building Yesterday i attended a talk which was organised by some environmentalists here. It was held in the NTUC building which was in the middle of the business district. It has been years since i have been here, so i set out early to walk about the place. Everything is very very large  I arrived during rush hour and people were simply pouring out of the MRT. The crowds were swarming down escalators and out of offices - but they were not overground. No, they were underground, at the MRT. In fact thee was no one above ground. For the business district at rush hour, above ground was eerily quiet! There must be dozen of buildings which look like these To think that hundreds of thousands of people work in places like this. I used to work in a place like this. Admittedly these buildings are far more swishy and very sleek. It was like being in some espionage film set in the future. There were rehearsals for the National Day Parade and Sarah...
Read more