Friday, February 26, 2010
元宵节。快乐！
Chinese New Year came and went in the blink of an eye. Every year, preparations usually start few weeks before. But I admit that I did not do much in helping out, since this was a particularly busy year. I wonder if this is going to continue for the next three years or so...Well, this was indeed a very different cny compared to the past decade in a sense that it was a much quieter affair, particularly on my mother's side of relatives. Ever since my grandma passed on last year, most of them did not go and pay a visit to her home where my other aunt and uncle still stay. Unsurprisingly, this was also the group of relatives whom I only got to see once a year -- during cny.
No doubt, I already reckoned that this would happen when the older generation is gone. To be frank, the wise old folks are the ones who provide the opportunity for a get-together session. All, if not most, would have to pay a visit no matter what, as a form of respect. Furthermore, with no close relations to these relatives to begin with, it is worrying that ties might become strained or even severed.
The most significant change would have been the absence of my sis. From preparations to house visits, it would just be my parents and I. Then, there were cousins who also got married, with one of them already having a family. Undeniably, it was a little less 'fun' than before, but well, it is part and parcel of life after all.
All in all, it makes me wonder how the spirit of cny be like in the next few years to come especially with traditions dying out. Gone are the days where you were able to see four or even five generations gathering under the same roof on the first day, and how house visits now are viewed as a 'need' rather than a 'want'.
Nevertheless, thankfully traditions like these are still there to appease hungry souls like me.
元宵节。快乐！
~ deric ~
made a wish at 9:04 PM
0 visitors came knocking on my door .. without presents
0 visitors came knocking on my door .. without presents
