It's a pretty good Sunday today - although I had to start it way early - the earliest day of the holidays so far. I had to wake up at 6 this morning to meet my friend at a bus interchange at about 7. We were going far today; we had to meet one of the Brothers from our secondary school at St. Joseph's Institution (which was around town and the meeting time was at 8) and from there, he would drive us all the way to the West of Singapore (phew!), to a place called St. Joseph's Home. The purpose was to visit an ageing Brother living there and also attend mass together with all the old folks present.
As you know, just being around old folks, especially those who are disabled or "thrown" into the home by their families, is such a rare experience. If you look deeper, I'm positive you can find a lot of hidden meanings when you see all those wrinkled faces smiling at you. Personally I've only been to an old folks home twice, if I remember correctly, and being there can really teach you a lot. You get to see yourself when you're older, grey-haired and slow-moving, perhaps living in an old folks home, too? Will you have a family that will take care of you or "throw" you away into such a place? Or will you not be able to find your soulmate that you become a bachelor or bachelorette all your life? Scary questions, they may seem, but we all have to face the facts of life. I guess the only way to have what you want is to take action. Remember, 1 life, live it...
It's amazing how peaceful it can be in an old folks home. As you know, old folks don't usually have the strength to speak loudly or even talk for long periods of time. And so you see them sitting together at a table, just keeping silent, and looking at one another. It's always the eyes that speak and the ears would listen even more intently. Pretty much the opposite in daily life, huh? Young people like ourselves always depend on our mouths and we almost never listen first before speaking. But if you come to think of it, not everything has to be said; the eyes can say it all. It's just like what the Brother Director who came along with us said, "Sometimes silence is the language of love." How true...
After that serene experience, we headed to Orchard Road where the Brother Director changed his mobile phone plan. He needed to change it because the older plan didn't suit him. Funny man, really. Pretty witty, too. We then headed to lunch at an Indian foodstall which was obviously very popular since there were large crowds and newspaper articles of it framed on the walls. We had the famous prata, I ordered my favourite murtabak, and our other Brother ordered his ice-cream prata, which was the last to arrive almost after we finished our meals. The four of us had a pretty good time together, especially for me, because I felt honoured to go out with the Brother Director himself. I must thank my friend also, who invited me along. We ended our trip in the afternoon, when our kind Brother drove us back home...
It's amazing how you have so much time when you start your day early. You'll feel your day seems longer and you can do a lot more things compared to when you start your day late. Well, if only I have the will to wake up this early every morning...
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