into the rear view mirror. I took a good look at my young sons and felt truly blessed. In their young lives, they have yet to experience any hardship, any negative turn of event. They told jokes in the backseat, I listened and laughed.
As we took shower before heading to the outdoor swimming pool, my older son said, "Can we do a family night this weekend? Didi and I will pick a movie." I smiled at him and said, "Sure"! It was still early in the afternoon, not many people were there however. In the blink of an eye, my sons took a plunge into the swimming pool. I wanted to join them but somehow I just wasn’t up for it.
I sat in a lounge chair and watched them play, swim. They were having a great time while I sank deep into my thoughts. My mind escaped me for the next 15 minutes or so. Images from the news articles I have read in the last few days, were coming back scene after scene.
Families searched for loved ones, their cry for help, the flood torn villages….life can be so cruel! “Baba, can I go to the water slides?”, my younger son’s voice interrupted my train of thoughts.
“Go ahead.” I said to him. No sooner he climbed up the stairs to the water slide than I heard an excited “yippee” from him. I stared at the swimming pool, a body of sparkling water. The ripples rocked with every stroke my son made. How could something be so giving and unforgiving at the same time?
How could it nourish and claim lives of millions in one single breath? I don’t have the answers, and perhaps no one does.
“Life is too short.” An old saying that we often hear but few reallyunderstand. It’s when reality crashes in, then we begin to grasp its
true meaning.
original post date: August 13, 2009 - 8/8 Flood in Taiwan
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