Whenever friends return for visits, our former town crier tries to organize reunions. In the case when the visit was fleeting, it is usually arranged to the convenience of the visitor. Whomever contacted who could make it would join, those who could not make it just hope for better luck next round.
Some time next week I will go to one such event. This time I hope to see that the returnee relax, happy and contented. Our VIP was a former model, she was the prettiest and the most slender of us all in our early twenties. Her features were still good, she seemed slimmer the last time I met up with her; but from her body language she was far from happy then.
Her husband was in the business of some service providing in New Zealand. The fact that he is Asian probably does not help his business in his adopted land. Finances must have been tight because her visits were few and far in between. Her only daughter went through a very turbulent period as a teenager in the country down under. My friend has probably been biting the bullet for years. While all these have been happening, she went back to university to get herself the necessary qualification to teach.
I must remember to be as quiet as possible. It is not becoming to flout my homemaker status. While she has an NZ permanent resident permit, it came with great personal sacrifice. When I have been having a relatively easy life bringing up my brood of children here in home ground, she must have suffered and adapted to big changes abroad. Now that my chicks have flown the coop, I have less of a worry that I would lose all of them. It must be difficult for parents of singleton to release their precious treasure, what if she flies away and not return? My daughter, Elizabeth, asked me why do I still want to go? Well! It is the lesser of two evil. Of course I stand a chance of being shot at for having an easier life by staying in my homeland. The attack is not considered personal nor malicious. I do not want to lose my friends from elementary or high school days. It is so very easy to lose touch by not responding to invitations.
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