Super Heroes

When the two people who are responsible for your life starts to show signs of aging, something changes in you.

For the past few months I have been confronted with the increasing frailty of my parents and it has made me question how I could have missed all the signs.

Little things start to tumble around these invincible persons that make the parents seem less super human. Pain in the joint, back ache, swollen feet, to name a few.

We all know the cliches about loving your parents in their old age and spending more time with them while they are still around. But the truth is, those thoughts often don't keep us awake at night with worry about when we are going to dine with them next, or just sit next to them watching TV.

I guess it's because now that we live independent, adult lives of our own, everything has become an event. Meeting friends is done over dinner or drinks, a movie or a show. Meeting relatives over some festivity, wedding or another. Meeting siblings over a family matter to be discussed... but for our family, it seems like never.

So much so that we forget how when we were children, being with someone was as natural as breathing. Staying glued to a cartoon on a Saturday afternoon with your siblings was such fun. Sleeping over at a cousin's house was a huge occasion. And lying in the crook of your father's arm while he was watching the wrestling on the black and white tv, could lull you into the sweetest sleep.

Now when we meet our parents and siblings, it is for something. A meal, an occasion, an issue.

A death, a wedding, a birthday.A victory, an anniversary, an argument.

It is never, to watch TV or fall asleep on their living room couch. And never to sleep over for no reason other than a need to be close to them, under the same roof again for just a moment.

I have a funny feeling that when my parents are gone, I will gravitate towards their home. And I will miss sitting together on the carpet, fighting over the best spot under the fan before we tune in to our favourite show. I will long for those moments when my mother and I are the only souls awake in the car on a long-distance journey watching the on-coming lights from the passing vehicles, while my brother drives in the dark. And my father reads the road map and still can't figure out where we are, and always ended up in front the the Malaysian Prime Minister's grand gate. And conversations lead nowhere, but sometimes reveal just a wee bit of the person he is when he is not being your Dad.

I pray to Allah that I will have more time in this life to spend with my parents. Being old and fragile as they are, they are still my super heroes.

Love you always, Mak and Bapak