Ten Years After

I was just checking my journal of 10 years back for this date and found a reference to Mum arriving here, on what happened to be Hari Raya Haji that year, and looking in fine fettle. 'Sprightly' was the word I used. My entry for the next day read:

Took Mum to the library - a successful trip with no fewer than four murders now for her to enjoy. We've just come back from dinner at Geylang where she polished off a chicken chop at rapid speed.

I think that was the beginning of her last visit to Singapore, the culmination of an almost unbroken run from 1989 onwards, if I'm not mistaken. The following year featured a bit of a scare, at this time of year also, regarding the possibility of a cancerous growth on her lungs - fortunately a false alarm - but she never visited again.

I don't recall that specific chicken chop, or the murders she was going to polish off in the days ahead, but I do recall the sheer fun of the times we were able to have her with us. Priceless.