The Waiting Game

 Parents wait.

All the time.

 Last week was rainy. The rain poured just before the bell rang for home. I was mesmerized by the springing of umbrellas 5 minutes before the bell for dismissal rang. I thought it was a tale-telling scenario; how fathers and mothers would wait for their children for almost everything.

Parents wait for their babies to grow up; send them to kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, pre-university institutions and most finally to the university.

They also wait for them at meals, outside tuition classes, piano classes and even shopping malls. Then very surely they camp outside school gates during public exam days and fervently pray for happy faces after each paper.

They wait for their sons and daughters to complete whatever they have to do with education; hope for meaningful jobs and then wait again; for a good life partner.

Then they wait upon the younger ones; to help them through life with the next generation.

The cycle never ends.

That's life; the waiting game.

 Last weekend was a refreshing one; walking down the streets of Kuala Lumpur with the girls and shopping for daddy. This time the girls waited for daddy to choose his attire; a good change. We had a simple meal; it is not easy to gather them as a group for they are now grown-ups and it needs juggling of time to be together. Strange; but true. We are always waiting.

I suppose that's how life is; waiting.