21.7.07
photograph.
packing for the move to the new place is kind of interesting. my mum finally decided that if no one is going to start packing anything, then she'll get the ball rolling. so when i got home from work on feasting / feeding / food friday (note the alliteration), the old and bending bookcase on the landing was pretty empty of the many copies of national geographic and old fixit manuals dad's been hoarding the last few decades, my kindergardent progress report books, my baby books with noise buttons, and lo and behold, tons of old photographs.
not just photos of baby ruth haha. i realise i had a lot more hair then (all standing up), and i look quite a bit different now. dang, i was one happy baby then, with tons of funny expressions to keep.
not just photos of baby brother, when he was a baby haha. gush, i should scan some in and post them up here, he'll never be able to face the world the same way again haha. all the things he did while i was away in school.
not just baby photos, growing up photos, and the other embarassing photos of the very first bespectacled ruth / sulking ruth / crying ruth (rolls eyes, why did they have to do that?!).
what intrigued me the most was my parents' photos. photos when they were my age or slightly older. photos of mum when she was studying in the states and when she had a lot more hair, dad when he was studying in southhampton and when he had long hair (!) and wore bellbottoms (!!) and when he and his friends looked oddly like hippies / the beatles / saturday night fever (!!!). the best part was all the photos of them doing things unimaginable of your parents, the kind of stupid poses that they've always scolded me for doing (dad had one where he looked like he was trying to hang his friend's head on the washing line). even better was mum's reaction to dad's long hair: "wah, if i had known him when he was in england, i don't know if i'd have married him." quite obvious dad chopped the locks when he got back to malaysia, all for a good cause haha.
and then i found photos of when they just got engaged and went down to canada to see my tua ee and her husband (haha all the stories i've heard about the 'interrogation' haha), then their wedding, honeymoon... yes, everyone go awwwwwww with many double-u's. but sure enough, i spent the rest of my friday just looking and staring at the old photographs. makes me want to go develop all my band photos, kindie photos, perth photos, whatever photos that i haven't got a hard copy of yet. that'll be a big dip in the pocket, i'm sure, but i guess it'll be worth it. before the computer crashes.
and i think, wow, someday my kids, if i ever have any to call my own, will be looking at those photos and spending a whole afternoon looking at them. wow mum, you had long hair then? wow mum, you were in the band? wow mum, your hair all stood up when you were a baby? wow mum, you taught kindie last time? wow mum, photos came from developing film? what's film? gahhhs, talk about thinking far, it's the kindie, i tell you.
anyway, the weather's terribly wet today, and i think i might go start packing my room. later (:
keep my heart upon Your altar.
Give me strength to cross this water,
keep my feet don't let me falter.
