I had the pleasure to go back home for the Fourth of July holiday. My brother was coming in from Seattle for a wedding. Around this time is also mom’s birthday!
It felt like the right time to come back home for a bit. I needed a health checkup. I also had to dump off some of my stuff(including a lot of books), and build a computer for dad. There were a bunch of other paperwork that I needed to do. Ugh -.-.
I had a really good time with family. We ate a ton of Korean beef, ordered our usual sushi platter, caught up, and my parents gave me advice as usual. I don’t think we did anything other than… talk.
My dad gave me his talk on life - the things that he usually says to me when I come by:
“This is why life is hard.”
“I’ve found that even if I try do have something happen, it only happens when the stars line up and heavens will it.”
“You always try to go too fast - take it slow and take care of yourself.”
For my mom, it was always to focus on spirituality and pray.
My brother on the other hand seems to be enjoying life on the West coast. He’s learning a lot on his new job, although his side venture is on a bit of a downturn. Hopefully it will swing back up.
Whatever it was, I just felt a overwhelming flood of thankfulness and appreciation. As a family, we’ve been through a lot - more than most. But it’s my firm belief that for some people, there are extreme lows as well as extreme highs. If there’s a surprisingly low point that brings you despair, maybe there’s a equally high point that brings you ecstasy. Hopefully this applies to us.So it seems like I’m a trajectory up, and hope to ride that wave up and prepare for the eventual cycle downwards.
I laughed to my heart’s content - at times I couldn’t stop smiling. I enjoyed the time I spent with my family a hell of a lot. It’s nice to know that there’s people in life - bounded by blood that will always be there for me through thick and thin. So I’m thankful.
But there’s a tint of sadness. At the back of my mind this phrase lingers:
This too shall pass.
Probably, 30, at more 40 of everything.
30 more birthdays for mom and dad.
30 more Fourth of Julys.
30 more Thanksgivings and Christmases.
It could not ring any more true. I know that one day I have to say goodbye to my parents and my brother. It will come. Eventually. This is why moments like this are so precious.
As it says repeatedly in the book of Ecclesiastes - eat, drink ,and be merry. Enjoy work under the sun. Sure, but I’d like to add the following - spend time with loved ones. Cherish fond memories. Let laughter and hugs fill your home.
Side note: I had a chance to read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety. It’s so well written. What I learned was that - dang, the colonies had a LOT of things that made them unhappy.
We tend to focus strictly on the beginning of the Declaration. But I found the ending to be equally, if not more powerful as well:
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
Sounds like a brotherhood of men bounded by a common purpose!