My Beautiful Mother

 

A lovely photo of mother, taken when she was in her early twenties.


Mother was the village belle. As my grandparents were Peranakan, mother often wore sarong kebayas on formal occasion. For casual wear, she would often wear a sarong with a blouse. For weddings and other grand events, mother would wear her beautifully embroidered kebayas with beaded shoes.

Papa often loved to share with us how he first met mother. One day, he boarded a bus and when he casually turned around, lo and behold, there was this attractive and beautiful lady sitting at the back of the bus. Papa could not take his eyes off the young lady; hence he kept turning around. Later mother alighted from the bus, and papa could have spanked himself for not having the courage to ask her for her contact.

A few days later when papa was playing badminton in the school hall, he thought he heard someone calling him, "Beng Soo! Beng Soo!" He looked up the balcony of the hall and lo and behold, there was the beautiful lady waving to his badminton partner, Beng Choo!

It was love at first sight for papa. He was smitten! Papa was thrilled that the lady of his dreams had appeared once more, and she was a friend of his colleague! The rest, as they say, is history.

Like most typical Peranakan ladies, mother was an excellent cook. She was also adept at craftwork - sewing, making beaded shoes, handbags, etc.

Hence, from papa's experience, you can understand why he often liked to share that if something is meant to be ours, it is ours. If not, let it fly away; if it is meant to be ours it will come back to us. In brief, we just do our best, and let Providence and God do the rest.


Gan Chau