Ash

ASH, our youngest kid, turned five years old today. We initially sent him a text message during the early morning hours to greet him happy birthday, then his Mommy called him on the phone afterwards to talk to him for a while, asking what he would want to be prepared for his birthday party later in the day. He's a little shy at first, but eventually said he would like spaghetti, and the usual barbecued hotdogs... well, his 'Mima' (my mother) would probably add one or two more chicken or pork dishes to that... his brother and sister, as well as his cousins will have a grand time later today for that.

Anyways, it is usually with mixed emotions that Alice and I greet each birthday in the family these days. It is obvious due to the fact that we are far away, but even though, it is still quite overwhelming everytime you get the emotion on a particular day... well, I guess that's how it will be for both of us for sometime...

Going back to Ash, he is basically a 'Mommy's Boy'. That's mainly because he is the youngest of the three, and partly because mothers are usually the ones always interacting with growing up toddlers. That is not to say I am not interacting with him whatsoever - we also have our good times together, although sometimes we also didn't get along too well because of his tantrums (well, what can you expect from a 4-year old)... anyhow, I admire my little boy because eventhough he had grown up mainly with the company of his 'yaya', he always has that fondness for both Alice and me, and he always has that 'fresh', friendly, and humorous nature even at a very young age... I guess he will grow up to be the 'joker' of the family.

When Ash was three, Alice went to Sydney. After a short while, I followed her there and thus, Ash was left with his 'yaya' in most of his third year as a child... After going back from Sydney, we spent only a few months back home and then flew again, this time to the Gulf. Again Ash was left 'alone' for the most part of his fourth year as a growing boy. I know it doesn't have to be like that for him, but circumstances made it so, and thus, all of us - and I think most especially him - have been doing sacrifices for the family. I always dream of the time that Ash, and also his two other siblings, River and Rain, will be here with us... maybe when that time comes, we can make up for all those wasted times we spent far away from each other... we really 'owed' much from our kids, and thus hoping and wishing hard we could make up for these soon...

In the meantime, we'll just say -

Happy Birthday, Ash... from Daddy and Mommy