Year of the Dog
Today marks the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dog. Thirty six years ago, I was born into this world, and this year, I will welcome a child who will call me father. It seems that this year will a significant one.
Last night, a families of my mother’s siblings gathered for the Reunion dinner at Uncle TS’s home. It was a smaller group this year - several cousins were away and so was my sister. There were about a dozen of us. It felt … quieter. And a little strange - not as festive as I remembered. Still, it afforded us a chance to get together as a family and to wish each other well for the year ahead.
Today, we had lunch at my parent’s place. My mother rarely cooks now, but she made special effort to prepare lunch. And we did something that we never did before - DK, RD and myself offered my father a drink, and he blessed each of us.
What was new was explaining to RD what seemed second nature to me before. I had taken much of these traditions for granted, and there was much that was unfamiliar to her. Giving ang-pows was a new tradition to both of us, and we had to decide how much and who to give. I suppose it’s time I took stock of what tradition has been handed down and review them carefully before transmitting them to the next generation (coming soon!)