My Brother, Our Army. My Grandma, Our Heritage

Families of boys at my brother's army camp were invited to go visit the boys in camp last Saturday. Since we love my little brother very much, my whole family made the long journey to the far northwest of singapore. We knew this was the far northwest of singapore as we began seeing signs to the checkpoint to malaysia long before we got to the camp. Unfortunately, having been to the BMT tour, I was kind of disappointed by this visit. All we had was a lecture about the stages of training that my brother would be going through in the next few months. We were then told we could bring the boys home now. It seemed like just a ploy so that the boys could get their parents to pick them up. In any case, I was pretty thrilled to get to see their bunks. The moment we walked into the room, my dad declared, "smells like recruit!" I totally agreed. 

Since we were already in ulu land, my parents took us to the grave of my grandmother on my dad's side. She passed on before my parents were married so my brothers and I never got a chance to meet her. And surprisingly, in all my years, we had never been to the grave with my parents who make a trip there every year. But from what I hear, my grandmother was a pretty amazing woman, raising a brood of children who weren't even her very own. As I mentioned before, I come from a line of strong independent women. Dad said she would have been happy to see all of us, so we took a picture there. 

I love such family outings as it is only in such times when my usually reticent dad tells us stories of his family and each time we discover something new that he never thought necessary to tell us before. Hearing these stories now is like having read the abridged version of a literary classic as a child, then reading the complete works in all its glory later in life. The colorful details capture the mind and heart, and I learn to appreciate it so much more. My dad should really write a movie or a novel.

So I'm proud to say that this is my brother, our army and my grandmother our heritage. 

This is my family that I love very much.

at 11:37 AM