Tuesday 17 March 2015

Print

A Letter to Pa


Dear Pa

I wish I have told you this.

Now that you have left us, I felt it even more.

You were not rich, but you gave out of your poverty, and set us an example. This example I have come to realize, only when you are gone.

From our humble background, you taught us compassion and empathy for the less fortunate.

You were not the most diplomatic person, but you were sincere. From it, you taught us integrity.

You did not have a super career seen in the eyes of the world, but you worked hard, and set us an example to be hard-working. And somehow, God has always managed to us make end meets. Through you, God has shown us His faithfulness.

You may not have acquired the Singapore Dream – the 4 Cs, but your life has taught me that we are loved for who we are. And I only see it more clearly at the end of it.

In our grief, the love and support of friends and families who came each night at your wake, warmed our hearts and showed how much you are loved, for simply being you. Through it all, it shows how much you are loved by God.

Mr. FECS said, how you were always a cheerful person, even to the very end. You never complained about the pain and sufferings that you were going through. Through it, I have realised, you have taught me to be brave when facing the end of life by your example. You have taught me to be positive.

Mr. FECS also said, admirably, how you were always able to strike a conversation with complete strangers, wherever you went, even walking down the streets of Denmark. I used to feel embarrassed by it, but now I realized that you were teaching me to learn to step out of my comfort zone. I have come to appreciate your God-given talent.

Cat shared how you were poor and had to give up your studies to support your siblings when you were young, but how you passionately pursued the passion of your work and taught yourself to be an electrician through night courses. In your elderly years, you asked me to teach you how to use the computer, the internet and skype. And you mastered it through practice and had been skyping me to keep in touch. From your example, you taught us the passion for life-long learning.

Dear Pa

I have never told you this. I wish I have done so, while you were alive. But I will do it here. That you are a great dad, and the best one for us. I hope Jesus will tell it to you for us in heaven.

I have to learn to tell it to ma, while she is still with us, and not make the same mistake again.

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-27

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

My Favourite Books

Montessori Materials