Flu update (see blog of Nov. 20): I haven't gotten sick yet...phew...
I think I'll actually go and get the flu shot this year - I've held out long enough. It's supposed to help protect me from SARS too, and really, I don't want to get sick (from the flu or SARS) and potentially pass it on to the people around me, especially my friends and family.
I would explain my past stubbornness, but it would take too long (and no, I am not afraid of needles). Just know this: getting the flu shot doesn't mean that you're 100% safe - it just protects you from the strains all the health people think will hit us this flu season. That virus mutates like crazy, so the doctors and the scientists at WHO (even though they do the best they can) can't always predict what's going to happen. Scary, no?
I just told james that I haven't gotten sick from the flu in at least 3 years.
Now I'll probably be attacked by the dreaded virus in no time flat...
My grandmother left this world on Nov. 4. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but I don't think death is something you ever get used to. I wish I'd gotten to know her better - I think the language barrier, the generation gap and the differences between the world she came from and the world us kids lived in was too much to bridge when we were young. We knew though, that she loved us, and though we didn't express it much then, we loved her too. Thanks for being there for us, grandma. We'll miss you.
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Shortly after the funeral, my mom told me something that I will never forget: one of the my aunts was saying to my mom that she (my mom) was the only one with the patience to listen to the elders (other relatives, friends, acquaintances who are still with us) talk for hours on end. My mom said simply, listen to them now, because when they can't talk to you anymore and you WANT them to, you won't be able to do anything about it - it'll be too late.
For children, childhood is timeless. It's always the present. Everything is in the present tense. Of course they have memories. Of course time shifts a little for them and Christmas comes round in the end. But they don't feel it. Today is what they feel, and when they say 'When I grow up . . .' there's always an edge of disbelief -- how could they ever be other than what they are. ~British author Ian McEwan
As adults, why can't we do the same?
