Gifts of love

I think, no, I mean, I have too many things. Over the years, I've accumulated tons of stuff & threw away as much stuff. Of the things that I have, my most prized possession is probably my bolster. It's been with me for hmmm..as long as I have lived. I do not need to give details nor put a picture up here - I leave it to your imagination what it looks like & smells like.

This box you see in the picture on the left, unattractive as it seems, means a lot to me. My Dad bought this for me when I was 8. At that time, this stuffed toy, Lottsa Legs, a stuffed caterpillar that wore sneakers & its length ranged from half a foot to the length of a bed, was the rage. I insisted on one so my Dad took me to Yaohan at Bukit Timah Plaza one Sunday to get my Lottsa Legs. As things would have it, the one I wanted was out of stock (it was the rage, remember?) - they only had the super long one or the really short one. I was terribly upset. My Dad took me around the store hoping to cheer me up & tadaaahhh...we found this box. I really didn't know what I was thinking back then because I honestly don't know what I could have used the box for at that time.

Funny how it never made sense to me then because all I wanted was that silly caterpillar (which I got in the end, when Dad went all the way to Parkway Parade with me to get it). Oh ,by the way, that caterpillar has been thrown away. What remains with me from that point of time is this box. To me, this box reminds me of my Dad's efforts to make things better for me when I was upset. It certainly was really childish of me to have insisted on that toy but the bigger meaning behind it was that my Dad loved me enough to do anything to make me happy, even though it came strangely in the form of that pink plastic box.

The box is rather out of place for my room & given any normal situation, I would have thrown it away. Strange thing though, this never crossed my mind, about throwing it away. It has been sitting as a fixture in my room as a container for all sorts of things, from my milk molars (I've thrown them away, people!) to coins & now, just some odd-ends of my accessories.

Perhaps it's the reason why this box is now in my hands that gives me no reason at all to throw it away. It now sits quietly in the cupboard & each time I see it, I'm reminded of how my Dad loves me - enough to make his daughter keep a $6 plastic box for 20 years & counting.

Favourite picture with Dad - I was probably 1 - 2 years old.

My piano. My parents bought it for me when I was about 4. It now sits in my room & shamefully I tell you that I hardly play it these days. It's pretty out of tune now but it's been with me for the longest time. I don't really care if the touch & suitability of the piano is for someone who's done Grade 8 or just a tinker-totter. The piano means a lot to me because my parents got it for me. It encases the hopes & the dreams they never got to realise themselves when they were kids - they gave me the opportunity they never had for themselves. Up till today, I can still remember being there when the piano was delivered to our old flat & I still see the images of the old $50 notes my Dad passed to the guy who brought the piano over.

My brother & I can never be more thankful towards our parents for everything they have given to us. I wouldn't say that we had a fat bank account but it was a lot of love we had & still have from our parents. From silly little whimsical toys to our university education - these gifts of love, they were all the best from my parents. They may not be perfect people but to me, they are (though I get into the occasional far & in between arguments with my Mum :p). I don't know what I have done to deserve such a wonderful family but I guess it's God's way of telling me how much He loves me & that He only has the best for me.