Ode To My Father-The Unspoken Love
February 13- It has been exactly 9 years since my Dad left us. And yet there was no single day passed without me missing him…It was rather ironic because when my Dad was around, we were not that close in the sense that we talk or share a lot of things with each other. My brother and I were very close to my Mom, and our communication with my Dad was very minimal.
It was not that my Dad was sangat garang what so ever, in fact he never scold us, walaupun dengan rotan kecik, cubit dsb. Perhaps it was due to his quiet nature, but no doubt that he loved us very much, just in his own ways.
I couldn’t really explain how he did it, but despite the silence, somehow both of my brother and I know that my Dad loved us to bits. Until now I can feel that I was loved no matter where I go. The indescribable feeling is what I call the unspoken love.
I couldn’t really recall if my Dad had ever wished me Happy Birthday, but when I was in primary school, every year without failed he would came to my class, interrupted the lesson with a big birthday cake and snacks that he brought with him. Of course that made me and him very popular amongst my school friends!
There was also one time where my brother got a little trouble at school. He was studying in this prestigious boarding school, so even the smallest matter was given great attention. Anyway, most parents might be furious if that happens to their children. But my Dad, upon hearing that he immediately told my Mom that he would bought her the antique chest that she always wanted – with one condition, my mom had to promise not to scold my brother when he got home.
For some people it might sounds that he spoiled us, but I’m, quite happy to tell you here that we turned out to be decent citizens..hehehe
As for me, I regard his action an action of trust. My Dad trusted our judgment and decision every since we were young. From there we learned about the consequences that we had to bear on our own due the every decision that we have made in life.
And he also made me believe that action speaks louder than words. Sincerity, love and care are to be shown, not necessarily spoken. Because sometimes things that come out from the mouth are totally different from what we feel in the heart.
Comments
btw, romantiknye ayah akak.. best2.. ayah sy pon lebey kurang camtuh la.. never said 'i love you' ke ape ke.. but his gestures sume mmg nampak dia syg kiteorg adik beradik to bits.
al-fatihah to ayah akak.. :)
I guess some parents are like that. Cherish every moments with your loved ones, esp our parents tau!
semoga roh allahyarham ditempatkan di kalangan muslim mukmin yang dicintai Allah... Ameen...
My late dad pun camtu....
ur parents really raised u well :-)
take care!
you write good english. very good.
anyway, al-fatihah for your dad.
Lin - Thanks..u r so kind! I'm sure both of you we'll be great parents too!
Marmalade- Thanks! I love your style of writing!
I am where I am today because of him.
I was five or six maybe when we went to Yaohan together. For some reasons I can't remember, I asked him to buy me some tools. So he bought me a red toolbox, a couple of big screwdrivers with yellow handles, pliers and a set of interchangeable saws. Real tools, not toys.
And the fun began.
Not too long after that I came out with my own invention. "Pembakar belacan" I called it, intended to replace the tudung periuk my mom used to grill belacan. Nothing fancy. But looking back at it I thought it's pretty amazing that I came out with it at such young age. See there was a problem, there was the thought process on the possible solutions, there was the fabrication of the most cost effective solution, and there was testing performed (and a little bit of marketing after that). That's engineering alright, crude as it may have been.
Maybe it's just talent, but it was thankfully nurtured.
Back in college, I decided to work on my senior design project alone unlike most other students. Needless to say, the workload was overwhelming. With 5 other classes to take, for the project I had to learn advanced digital electronics and assembly programming language all by myself in a course of one semester. By the time the learning was done, time was running out. The real device had not been created yet. The existing mechanical system had not been fixed yet. Boy was this part of the work easy. Everything that required the use of tools and machines was a breeze. Ideas to fix stuff came naturally. Why not, I had been doing that for as long as I could remember.
And then came this award.
http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2006/news_20060504.htm
School was very time consuming, I didn't even have much time to think about other stuff (I even missed the email inviting me to the ceremony). But when I learned that I was awarded, what it's about, and later had that announced during graduation ceremony, it really got me looking back and thinking, "I was raised correctly".
p/s: Credit to my mom too for buying me a soldering iron when i was 10. Having been using it for a long time made soldering so many small components to create a compact circuit board so much faster and easier.