i miss my dad

so im trying this new thing... i.e. talking about my dad.

plus... i had lunch with my uncle dennis yesterday. he was Dad's best friend during university.
it was a nice lunch. U.Dennis in some ways probably sees me like part of the 'family'. i guess with all those that are familiar with chinese lineage and community... alot of our chinese relos are related somewhere along the lines.... esp those that immigrated here many generations ago...

anyhoo... it was just lovely. i felt very spoilt-- his kids are all in their late 30's- 40's (similar to my family i guess, but i was born much much later... ). He took me to have a nice lunch at the Tea Room at QVB. Ive always wanted to go there. I have heard of the afternoon teas they have there, but we didnt do that, we had a nice lunch special. salmon. always a favourite. anyhoo. My uncle is a solicitor and i think is ready for retirement. He would easily be in his 70's now. My dad would have turned 72 this year.

so he shared with me more clearly their history. my uncle actually knew my dad's eldest sister first at school. strangely enough, dennis went to a girls primary school in hong kong in the 40's. there werent enough schools, so some of the boys went to whatever school was available. anyhoo...

he shared of a funny story where my dad had actually 'crashed' his honeymoon he married my aunty rose (i think that is why my middle name is rose :D)... pretty funny imagining my dad driving in his first car (a white beetle) and driving all the way from sydney to melbourne in a day... to be their chauffeur! He did that in 1963.

one thing that was really interesting was that i had gone on family holidays with mum, dad, u. dennis and rose when i was about 8. i guess being the 'baby' of the family meant that i got to hang out with the oldies while my other siblings got left to their own devices. i guess what may have been seen as a 'lucky' kid to go on these cool adventures to then europe and the usa (i went many times before the age of 12) because dad was an electrical engineer for SBS back in the eighties, he had lots of conferences he went to in vegas ( i remember, because i snuck in a 'poker' machine pull at the age of 8) so... i got taken along.

if anything... i only just realised, that i am glad i have these wonderful memories of travelling, because... in some ways, my siblings are 8 to 12 years older than me in age respectively ( i have 3 sisters and eldest brother) and well, i kinda felt like i didnt get to know dad as an adult or a teen... something that i definately missed out on and now coming to think of it... it makes me feel better than i was lucky enough to have those times with him... thats probably why i like the U.S. so much. not cos of Bush== but certainly, because of the fun, positive memories they evoke of time with mum and dad back then.

yes. i think this is healing. talking about Dad. i think its healthy.