Tuesday, January 4, 2011

It was my Uncle J's wedding day.

25th of November 2010 to be exact.

The single biggest event in awhile to bring my entire family together.

We used to be the 'glue' of our family. My cousins and i grew up together. Our families used to gather almost on a weekly basis, whether it was for food, christmas or cycling.

Mel* and Bear* were my cousins, with Mel a year my senior and Bear being the same age as me. We were the closest growing up. Not a day went by that i wasn't on the phone talking nonsense with either of them and i often went for sleepovers at their houses. I naturally felt closer to Bear as he was also a guy and we shared the same interests. WWF, Tamiya cars and Pokemon! But Mel and i were very close too as her father (mum's bro) were on very good terms with my mum and we saw each other frequently.

Well as life would have it, such happiness doesn't last.

Shit happens.

We grew up.

And with that, the family saw no reason to come together so often anymore as the 'kids' had their own lives now. Looking back at it, perhaps it was the adults who had lost track of the family game. Either way, our family started to take itself apart.

Okay so enough with the reminiscing and let's get back on track.

Uncle J. His story is a remarkable feat of humanity but i don't wanna digress too much, so:

Hopeless teen-->Criminal-->Sitting in Changi-->Successful career-->Married

A true rags to riches story and i am truly proud of him.

It was his wedding day and we all got together. Asides from the mandatory reunion dinner every new year, i hardly got to see all my uncles and aunties sitting around the same table. Seeing them all together brought a smile to my face and the usual 'black faces' and arguing weren't present. And there had been epic battles of words during these gatherings before. Perhaps it was the significance of the event itself that dictated this temporary calm. It was a wedding after all. Whatever it was, i was grateful for it.

That night saw me conversing with everyone and i enjoyed the communication between them.

I also saw a side of my cousins i had never seen before.

Drunk cousins.

I guess that really drove in the fact that we have already grown up. It was pointless to live in the past and expect of people to relive their past selves. As fucked up as the current family environment is, we have to adapt to it and learn to overcome these challenges and strive to maintain the all-important bond that only my family shares. And that is a love like no other.