Footprints

The countdown is on. In a few hours, we will be bidding adieus to 2007 and ushering in year 2008. Time really flies. Before I round up 2007, here are some updates.

On 14th December, Ruth celebrated her thirteenth birthday. Organized a small party for her. She invited some close family friends. We catered food and hubby cooked his favourite mud crabs and "long life" noodles. It was an enjoyable occasion and Ruth received lots of presents and "ang pows".

Four days later we left for our vacation in Malacca and Singapore. Spent three days in Malacca, visited the famous "Afomosa" ( a popular tourist resort), some cultural and historical sites around the city and sampled Malacca 's famous rice ball chicken "rice" and Nyonya food. We then proceeded to Singapore by coach. Ruth had a great time visiting the Singapore Zoo, night safari, Science Centre, Sentosa Island and of course, shopping. It was a good nine days' break from Bintulu!. On yes, this was our first Christmas abroad and we had a sumptous spread of goodies for our Christmas eve dinner in one of the hotels in Singapore.

Ruth will start the new school year on 3rd January 2008 and she's happy to be admitted into the "top class". Hopefully, she will continue to excel in her studies, social and emotional development.

Musings

A friend of mine often forward me lots of e-mails. Most of them are about Christian living, jokes, snippets of life and some very touching and real life stories. Just recently, I received a particularly touching story written by a doctor.

The story relates to an elderly gentleman, who is one of his patient. It was a busy morning, approximately at 8.30am when this gentleman dropped by his surgery to remove stitches from his thumb. The man said that he was in a hurry for a 9.00am appointment. As he examined the thumb, the doctor began to engage in a conversation with this gentleman. The gentleman told him that he needed to go to the nursing home for breakfast with his wife. She was a victim of Alzheimer disease and had been at the home for quite a while. So, the doctor asked him whether she would be worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him for the last five years.

The doctor was surprised and asked the gentlemen. "Are you still going there every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" The gentlemen smiled, patted the doctor's hand and said. " She doesn't know me, but I still know her". It was indeed a very touching and revealing thought. What boundless love binds this elderly gentleman to his wife, even though she does not even know or recognize him. Indeed, true love is neither physical or romantic. It is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be. A real lesson in life!

Holiday plans

Hubby finally decided on our year-end holiday destination. We will be spending about 3 days visiting Malacca and then proceed to Singapore for the next leg of our holidays. Ruth is looking forward to see the sights of Malacca, so rich in history and cultural heritage. We will be joining another family for the Singapore trip, and there will also be lots of fun filled activities including visits to the night safari, zoo, Sentosa Island and of course, shopping.

Mum will be leaving for her trip to Europe sometime next week. She will be away for about two weeks' enjoying the sights, cold and snow..Lucky her!

Ruth is enjoying her school break with her time slotted for reading, homework, drawing, watching television and swimming. She will be celebrating her thirteenth birthday next Saturday. Yes, thirteen long years she had been with us and she brought us much joy, laughter and sometimes tears. But she's such a blessing to us.

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