Ticking time

February 28, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mum is a stickler for time. A clock watcher. Even now. Ailing with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and heart failure, her days are influenced by time. She has clocks everywhere in her condominium. One large analogue clock by her bedside wall. Another digital facing her. Two large ones in the lounge and kitchen. She […]

How not to be sad

February 7, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

I don’t have the answer or solution on how not to be sad. I’m sad. I know why. I just don’t know how to shake it off. I just thought of Taylor Swift’s song as I wrote that. And, her video. I smiled. I guess that’s one way of doing it. Shake it off. Switch […]

Saying goodbye

January 24, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

I have to say goodbye to sister number 3 on Thursday. She arrived on Deepavali Eve. Changed her return flight from 21 Dec to 11 Jan. Changed it again to 27 Jan. After 2 months and 26 days she flies back to England. Her 90-day MyTravelPass visa expires on 1 Feb. I am sad now. […]

11 minutes

January 17, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

It was the longest 11 minutes of my life. My mum could not be aroused. Not by her palliative doctor, who thankfully was present at the time, for her weekly visit. Not by sister number 3. Not by me. My mum was a little under the weather the previous Sunday evening. Phlegm and cough. […]

Palliative care

December 27, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

‘Alert and chatty’ is how the palliative care doctor describes my mum, in her log book, after her weekly and sometimes bi-weekly home visit. Positive and encouraging words. Optimistic adjectives. Happily, also true. My mum is sharp witted and cheeky with her answers and responses to questions and queries posed by her palliative team. She […]

Live-in or stay-out

November 15, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I never thought I’d have to resort to outside help for my mum. I prided myself on being able to care for her – when she needed it and for however long. Actually, that’s what sister number 4 and I had discussed on several occasions. We will take care of our mum, between us. Of […]

88 today

September 27, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

It’s my mum’s 88th birthday today. It’s a super special birthday on many levels. My mum is super-duper special to me. 88 is a grand old age to get to. 88 is an auspicious number. In Chinese it means fortune and luck. As my mum is a quarter Chinese, she will receive abundant blessings of […]

Coping

August 23, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Very early one morning I noticed an accident from my condominium window. It involved a motorcyclist. I knew it was fatal because of the piece of white cloth placed over the deceased and vehicle. The police had cordoned off a part of the road and there was a long queue of cars. I couldn’t get […]

Caring and loving

August 2, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

My initial reaction to some articles I read about caregiving, aging parents and siblings was incredulity. Really? Seriously? How can? I u-turned quick quickly. Especially when I recalled stories from friends and former colleagues who’ve had and continue to have difficulty in trying to provide care for their elderly parents. An ex-colleague gave up a […]

Job-free

July 26, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’m not work-free. I’m job-free. I no longer take on any fee-earning projects or commissions. No more meetings. No more crazy deadlines. No more writing to suit clients’ requirements. No more commuting. I never was caught in rush-hour traffic as I worked mostly from home – one of the early adopters of the current Work-From-Home […]