家有一老

媽跟我們小住的這幾個星期中, 讓我體會到一句名言: 家有一老, 如有一寶.

人生幾何, 能陪著媽賞花, 看夕陽, 逛商店, 釣魚, 其樂融融.

 

 

 

 

時光隧道 - 1 : 啟程

'13 年三月間出差的公事終於告一段落, 引頸期盼的日子也終於來臨. 清晨去機場的路上思緒如泉湧, 彼岸有我久違不見的親朋舊友, 也有未曾謀面的新知. 幾個月前連絡上兒時的同學及玩伴在接下來的四天中都將見面, 心中真是興奮莫名!

我盯著腕上的手錶, 這一百多分鐘的航程, 覺得特別漫長. 快一點, 飛快一點! 我喃喃自語. 或許,機長聽見了我的嘀咕, 不久就聽見航姐傳播出落地前準備, 幾分鐘後飛機平安著地 - 我終於回來了!

疾步中我通過海關,出了境, 在細雨中我上了計程車, 運將的南部腔覺得格外熱忱. 閒聊中, 我望著途中經過的大街小巷, 雖然沒有什麼印象, 但是總有一份難以形容的親切感. 運將相當健談, 只是我忙著看著過往的車輛, 跟交通中穿梭的人群, 跟他有一搭沒一搭的. 望著一棟棟聳立的大樓, 有點感慨, 閉上眼睛, 回想著小時候曾走過的田畔, 火車軌道, 記憶中仍然有著糢糊的印象. 張眼之際, 看到的是熟悉的圓山飯店, 士林夜市, 雙溪公園一帶, 都是小時候常去的地方.

運將沿著捷運旁的路線, 到了芝山, 明德, 石牌! 終於又回到我的地盤了! 心中有著莫名的雀躍! 雖然十五歲離開台灣, 事隔三十餘年, 石牌, 新北投, 永遠是我最熟悉的地方. 前一個星期出差的疲憊, 已經忘記了. 濛濛之中來到的下塌的旅館 – 皇家季節酒店. 小學的母校, 逸仙國小, 就在山坡的另一旁.

我迫不及待的放下行李, 撥了個電話, "Hey Jason, it's me!" 開始了一個忙碌的下午.

我的不勒狗

這個部落格一擱就是二十多個月, 嗯, 該溜一溜了!

週末找時間整理下思緒....

Taking Charge

I’m not the indecisive type, not usually anyway. I may ponder for a few moments before making a decision but my thought process is usually swift. Maybe that’s why my dear Mrs. normally leaves me in charge of making the final decision. Luckily, we very seldomly have arguments because of a poorly made decision. 

Weeks before our Orlando trip, I made an online purchase and bought the Go Orlando Cards. I checked out the attractions listed before making the purchase. It was a no-brainer to purchase these cards rather than buying individual attraction tickets at the gates. There are some big ticket attractions such as SeaWorld, Lego Land to name a few.

Day 2 of our trip, we arrived at SeaWorld shortly after the park had opened. We went to the ticket scanners and proceeded to scan our Go Cards. Error, re-try, error again. The park attendants instructed us to scan our cards at a different kiosk location. So off we went.

We followed the on-screen instructions and tried to scan our cards again, the same error message returned. After several retries to no avail, we sought assistance. “The admission is included in the Special Edition Go Card.”, the attendant told us. “You have the regular Go Cards. You can upgrade them though, but you need to go back to the ticketing agent.”, she continued.

I must have misread the “included attractions” list, I cussed at myself silently. I was still thinking what to do next when my Mrs. said, “Let’s go buy the tickets.”. She began walking back to the kiosks. “We’ll use the cards tomorrow.”, she said. Her decision was quick and firm. I think I actually stood there and admire her for taking charge for a few seconds.   

For the next six plus hours, we had a great time in the park. It was a blast!

A BIG shoe to fill

There was not a shred of doubt that crossed my mind that Didi could do it, and do it very well. Last year, after seeing the outcome of the Spell Bowl, we felt very sad for Didi's school. There were seven rounds in the competition, each student was challenged to correctly spell seven words. The team from Didi's school had a score of less than 20. We weren't sure if the team under prepared or the students simply got too nervous. They had about 10 weeks hone their vocabulary skills. Didi opted not to participate last year.

It wasn't until two weeks before the forming of 2012 Spell Bowl team, that Didi had finally agreed to try out. It required some persistent persuasion to get him to nod his head. A list of 750 words, perhaps 90% of the words were new to Didi, he had his work cut out for him for sure. Not always a self-starter, we knew we had to work with him - a lot! The ten weeks that followed, gave Didi a peek at his own potentials.

Thirty some students tried out for team, 12 of whom were selected. Of the 12 renaming students, only 9 would get a chance to be in the competition. There would be 8 spellers and 1 scorekeeper. Normally, the stronger spellers would go in the later rounds. The best speller on the team would be the anchor. 

First few weeks of practice went by quickly, Didi fared very well in his practice sessions. Each session's score was kept and tallied as they progressed. All of us worked diligently with Didi, particularly Gogo. Twice helped his school to place in the Spell Bowl, Gogo is no slouch when it comes to spelling. It's actually quite a big shoe that Gogo has left Didi to fill.

Although his studying habits didn't change much, Didi was able to improve his practice scores. We broke down the weekly list to daily, and we all took turns quizzing Didi. Somewhere near the 5th week of practice, I gave Didi a challenge. He had three perfect scores at that time, I challenged him to get three more perfect scores for a cool half dozen. Should he succeed, we'd take him to Orange Leaf, kids' favorite yogurt place. The prize? As much as he could fill the cup! Didi's eyes glistened, the bet was on!

In the next few weeks, Didi not only made a believer out all of us, but himself as well. He would run a string of 5 perfect scores to bump the total to eight. Something that Gogo didn't achieve when he participated in the bowl. Very happily, we brought the kids to Orange Leaf and watched them piled up their cups. It was no doubt a team effort.

About two weeks before the competition, Didi came home with an announcement, that the teacher had asked him to be the "secret weapon". He had the highest cumulative score, which earned him the team's anchor spot. Way to go! Only one more hurdle to to - the actual competition.

Slowly but surely, the big day had arrived. It was business as usual, the kids went to school and the parents went to work. Everything was normal until we arrived at the site of the competition in the early evening. My Mrs. and I had butterflies in our stomachs. I don't know if other parents felt the same? We saw Didi and his teammates in the cafeteria. Several other kids were doing the last minute review. He was being his chit-chatty self, didn't seem nervous at all.

I surveyed the floor and found where Didi's team would be seated. We sat down on the bleachers not far from the team. Moments later, the Spell Bowl would begin. Groups of youngsters, parents, teachers, volunteers quickly filled the gym. A few announcements by the emcee and the competition was underway. We weren't sure at what round Didi would go up. Although he said he might go last, the order might have changed. One by one, the representing student from each school sat in their assigned seat. 

The first round was rough for Didi's school, with a score of 4. The next kid did better, correctly spelled 6 out of 7 words. 3rd, 4th and 5th round soon completed..the anticipation was really building up. We looked over to Didi's bench, he was flipping through some book...not his vocabulary list! He looked totally bored. A minute later he put his jacket on the empty seat next to him and began to lay down. Wow, this kid really got the nerves of steel! We shook our heads as we watched him. Round 6 and round 7 concluded, well, it looked like Didi would anchor. 

FINALLY,  after nearly an hour of anxiety, it was Didi's turn. He walked up to his seat and sat down next to his proctor. I was about 20 steps away, with the camera in my hands. First three words were given, correct answers announced...Didi didn't raise his hand to signal he had spelled them correctly. My stomach was in knots. Did he get them wrong? I could tell that the proctor was telling him something, asking him to raise his hand perhaps? Four more words to go, it felt like an eternity. At last, Didi raised his hands for the next four words, it calmed me down somewhat. I looked over to the anxious mom, she too, was relieved.

When the emcee asked the perfect spellers to turn in their papers, Didi stood up. Immediately his proctor held him back and said something to him. He didn't go to the judges' table, which meant he didn't get all 7 words right. The emcee continued a moment later, "All near perfect spellers, please turn in your paper.", Didi proceeded. It was then I took a deep breath, "It's OVER!", I said to myself. I could see the same impression on my wife too. Although he missed one, he still did well. The whole team did well! 

After all scores were tallied, Didi's team came in 3rd place. The team coaches, school principal, the students and the parents, everyone was very happy. I'm quite sure after last year's abysmal performance, they goal was to redeem themselves. And they did!

A big congratulations to 2012 SCE Spell Bowl team. Well, it looks like we'll be visiting Orange Leaf again soon!

Trick or Treat

It was bitterly cold that evening as dusk quickly succumbed to darkness. We had but one neighbor in our community so we ventured to one next to us. At just 19 months old, Gogo was the cutest Winnie the Pooh ever! It was a rather short outing as we visited two, maybe three homes in the area. Nonetheless, it was a very special, memorable moment for me. 

Over the next few years, our community had grown, so had our family. Didi joined our candy collection duty the year after. Boy, what an adorable chili pepper he was! 

Warm or cold, I walked the streets with the two brothers on this special day, year after year. From cute animals to stealthy ninjas, to scythe wielding Grim Reapers, their imagination is never in short supply. As nightfall rendered the streets to a blur, we paced our way home. 

My fingers were numb from the two-hour walk, it certainly was chilly! I watched in amazement as the kids poured their candy collections onto the floor, there were some four hundred pieces of candies, maybe more! 

“Baba, these are for you.” Didi came up and handed me a big handful of my favorite chocolate candies.  Gog also did the same. It really warmed me up from the inside. It was all treats for me on this Halloween. 

Small step...Big leap

“Pedal faster, faster!” I yelled out, the moment I let go the bicycle seat. You forged ahead down the slope with a glistening smile. “Whoa..haha..hahaha...”, you exclaimed in sheer exhilaration. There I stood, proud and in admiration. I spent a few moments to collect my thoughts. “Not bad for a five year old! He’ll be all right.”, I murmured to myself. 

A few years have gone by, the five year old has grown up quite a bit under our watchful eyes. Standing almost at eye-level with his mom, that boyish smile remains. Having recently completed the Safe Sitter course, we felt it was time for the youngster to take another step forward.

“You’re in charge today, breakfast and lunch are ready, just heat up when you’re hungry. Here are the phone numbers if you need to get hold of me or Baba.” A few words from kids’ mom before she left for work. “OK”, the reply was short and sweet.

Although I knew the boys could manage just fine, I was still uneasy leaving them at home by themselves. As much as I wanted to call and make sure everything was OK, I didn’t pick up the phone.  

I’m not a clock watcher but I was this afternoon. Finally, it was time to head home! The weather was gorgeous, maybe a little windy. I arrived home to see the boys watching TV in the family room. “How was your day?”, I asked. “Good.”, a simple answer but boy, was I relieved! It may be a small step in your young life, however, it’s a big leap toward independence. 

Keep it up, son! 

“踏快一點, 再快一點!”, 我鬆開捉緊腳踏車椅墊的手, 對著兒子喊著. 你自己騎著單車, 衝下小山丘,笑靨滿溢. “喔….哈哈…哈哈哈哈”, 你開懷的笑著. 望著你, 我並足而立, 驕傲中帶著欽佩. 我呆立的回想,  “才五歲的他還真行, 我可以放心了!”, 我喃喃自語.

轉眼間, 已匆匆數年, 在我們呵護下, 那個五歲的小男孩已經長大許多. 個子已幾乎追上了媽媽的他, 仍保有那稚氣的笑容. 不久前, 他才上過安全保母的課程, 我們覺得, 是該讓他走邁出人生的另一步了.

“今天由你當家, 早,午餐已經準備好, 餓了只要熱一下就可以吃.  紙上有我跟爸爸的電話號碼, 需要的話, 就打給我們.” 孩子們的媽在上班前的叮囑. “好”, 哥哥短短的回答.

雖然我知道孩子們能自治, 但是讓他們自己留在家裡, 我還是有點不放心.  儘管一直想要打電話回家探個究竟, 我始終沒提起聽筒. 

平常我很少盯著牆上的鐘, 但是今天例外. 好不容易, 終於熬到下班時間! 外面的天氣非常好, 雖然風大了些.  我回家時兄弟倆正在看電視, “今天還好吧?”, 我問著. “好”, 哥哥簡短的回覆.  我鬆了口氣, 也放下心中的一塊石頭! 對你來説, 這只是 你人生中踏出的一小步, 實際上, 你已經朝著獨立跨出一大步.   

加油, 兒子!