A song made famous by Tom Jones, a singer from Pontypridd, which is in one of the Welsh Valleys. It starts off by the man returning back home after a long time away. He remembers the village and the people exactly how he saw them when he left. Mary, with her golden hair and lips like cherry. That old house that could do with a lick of paint. And the old oak tree he used to play on when he was younger.
But the song has a kind of a sad ending, which isn’t the point I’m trying to make.
What I’m saying is, wherever someone is, no matter how far away, or whatever situation they’re in, they always think of home. They don’t have to think about it all the time, maybe only for a very brief moment, but home is always thought of. It doesn’t have to be the thought of a house with four walls and a door with a few windows. Home is more than that. Home is about being with family, with friends, being in the area where you grew up, even if it’s the local park. Somewhere where you spent a lot of time with the people who you’re close with.
Everyone has a home. Even if they travel around a lot. A home isn’t four walls and a roof. That’s called a house. A home is a familiar surrounding with familiar people and things surrounding. For the average person, a home is where they live, where they grew up, where they share the same place as their family. But it doesn’t have to be in a fixed position. For a Nomad, their version of home may be the desert, a couple of tents and camels. But to them, it’s home. Because they grew up that way; they’re used to that way; they live by that way. If you stick them in a brick house with heating and electricity and the like, that would not be home to them, because they never lived in that situation before. How could somewhere be a home, when you haven’t been there before? It’s the same principal for the opposite. Try putting a successful businessman, who wears a suit everyday, into the middle of the desert with a couple of camels and a turban.
So… the topic here is home. Why talk about home? Because I’m far away from it. But, I do admit that I’m not as far away from home as some, and it may be easier for me to go home than others. However, even when I’m writing this, I am also putting other people into consideration, especially the ones who feel more homesick and the ones who haven’t been home recently.
I’m not one to get homesick. I do miss family and friends when I’m away, but I don’t get down about it. I don’t cry myself to sleep every night longing for going home. I’m not like that. I can go as long as it takes being away. But sometimes, there are some things, which do make me think about home. There are also some people who I think about, namely my mother, father, brothers (not sure if they do the same, though!), my sister (who does miss me and keeps asking about my whereabouts!), and also my grandparents, and nobody could ask for a better family that mine!
There are, of course, many friends of mine back home who I also think about all the time. I’m sure they know who they are, as the list is a bit long to name all.
But what got me to write all this, is because earlier this evening, I was talking to my mother via the Internet, and then she mentioned that my sister, Selina, and nearly five years old, keeps asking where I am. I’m sure I’m safe to say that I’m very close to my young sister, even though there’s about 15 years between us. I often take her in the car to places, to visit our grandparents and other family members. I wouldn’t like to compare the relationship between us to our brothers, though. But me and my sister are rather close, I guess. Apparently, she has the same characteristics and personality as me when I was her age. I’m too young to remember a lot of detail about it, but even now, I can see myself when I see her. It’s weird, but it’s nice to see.
But to have a sister is something I always wanted to have. I have two younger brothers, and after the youngest, Lloyd was born, I thought I’d never have a sister then. And I always wondered what it would be like. And then, at the early stages of my mother’s pregnancy, I dreaded of what will become. I didn’t want a brother again, even though in the end, I’ll be happy whatever. And when I heard the ‘blunt’ news from my father of having a sister, I was all for it. I was looking forward to the day when there was finally a girl in the family.
And since she was born, she has been an important part of my life. And I’m happy to have a sister like Selina. And sometimes, I find it weird being so far away from her for so long, when we were often together in the same room. Admittedly, she can be annoying sometimes when she begs to change the channel to watch some people dressed up as fat aliens eating plastic toast, or when she shoves a sticker book on top of the newspaper asking you to stick things in it, or when she even manages to kick you off the computer so she can play games she can’t play. But that’s how kids are at that age. And looking back at it, it’s comical on how they act and behave. And I think, it’s the wicked and mischievous, yet loving behaviour of hers that I miss mostly.
I also noticed that, when Cellan or Lloyd (my two brothers) come home from college or work or a weekend away, Selina doesn’t tend to greet them like me, she may be still lying on the settee or at least wait by the door. If I’ve been away for a weekend, maybe even for the whole day, she hears my (distinctively sounding) car going up the street, and presses against the upstairs window, and then, before I park the car, she’s standing on top of the steps outside waiting for me. Maybe she does that with the others, but I haven’t seen it.
I don’t know what it is, or what makes it happen, but the two of us are close. Very close, I guess. And hopefully it’ll stay that way, even though I’m not there. I won’t even be there for her fifth birthday. But I’m sure I’ll be there in spirit!
But for everyone, the hardest part of being away is being away from home, family and friends. And one reconciliation is that I’ll be seeing them again soon. And until then, I think I can hold out, as so can everyone else!
But the song has a kind of a sad ending, which isn’t the point I’m trying to make.
What I’m saying is, wherever someone is, no matter how far away, or whatever situation they’re in, they always think of home. They don’t have to think about it all the time, maybe only for a very brief moment, but home is always thought of. It doesn’t have to be the thought of a house with four walls and a door with a few windows. Home is more than that. Home is about being with family, with friends, being in the area where you grew up, even if it’s the local park. Somewhere where you spent a lot of time with the people who you’re close with.
Everyone has a home. Even if they travel around a lot. A home isn’t four walls and a roof. That’s called a house. A home is a familiar surrounding with familiar people and things surrounding. For the average person, a home is where they live, where they grew up, where they share the same place as their family. But it doesn’t have to be in a fixed position. For a Nomad, their version of home may be the desert, a couple of tents and camels. But to them, it’s home. Because they grew up that way; they’re used to that way; they live by that way. If you stick them in a brick house with heating and electricity and the like, that would not be home to them, because they never lived in that situation before. How could somewhere be a home, when you haven’t been there before? It’s the same principal for the opposite. Try putting a successful businessman, who wears a suit everyday, into the middle of the desert with a couple of camels and a turban.
So… the topic here is home. Why talk about home? Because I’m far away from it. But, I do admit that I’m not as far away from home as some, and it may be easier for me to go home than others. However, even when I’m writing this, I am also putting other people into consideration, especially the ones who feel more homesick and the ones who haven’t been home recently.
I’m not one to get homesick. I do miss family and friends when I’m away, but I don’t get down about it. I don’t cry myself to sleep every night longing for going home. I’m not like that. I can go as long as it takes being away. But sometimes, there are some things, which do make me think about home. There are also some people who I think about, namely my mother, father, brothers (not sure if they do the same, though!), my sister (who does miss me and keeps asking about my whereabouts!), and also my grandparents, and nobody could ask for a better family that mine!
There are, of course, many friends of mine back home who I also think about all the time. I’m sure they know who they are, as the list is a bit long to name all.
But what got me to write all this, is because earlier this evening, I was talking to my mother via the Internet, and then she mentioned that my sister, Selina, and nearly five years old, keeps asking where I am. I’m sure I’m safe to say that I’m very close to my young sister, even though there’s about 15 years between us. I often take her in the car to places, to visit our grandparents and other family members. I wouldn’t like to compare the relationship between us to our brothers, though. But me and my sister are rather close, I guess. Apparently, she has the same characteristics and personality as me when I was her age. I’m too young to remember a lot of detail about it, but even now, I can see myself when I see her. It’s weird, but it’s nice to see.
But to have a sister is something I always wanted to have. I have two younger brothers, and after the youngest, Lloyd was born, I thought I’d never have a sister then. And I always wondered what it would be like. And then, at the early stages of my mother’s pregnancy, I dreaded of what will become. I didn’t want a brother again, even though in the end, I’ll be happy whatever. And when I heard the ‘blunt’ news from my father of having a sister, I was all for it. I was looking forward to the day when there was finally a girl in the family.
And since she was born, she has been an important part of my life. And I’m happy to have a sister like Selina. And sometimes, I find it weird being so far away from her for so long, when we were often together in the same room. Admittedly, she can be annoying sometimes when she begs to change the channel to watch some people dressed up as fat aliens eating plastic toast, or when she shoves a sticker book on top of the newspaper asking you to stick things in it, or when she even manages to kick you off the computer so she can play games she can’t play. But that’s how kids are at that age. And looking back at it, it’s comical on how they act and behave. And I think, it’s the wicked and mischievous, yet loving behaviour of hers that I miss mostly.
I also noticed that, when Cellan or Lloyd (my two brothers) come home from college or work or a weekend away, Selina doesn’t tend to greet them like me, she may be still lying on the settee or at least wait by the door. If I’ve been away for a weekend, maybe even for the whole day, she hears my (distinctively sounding) car going up the street, and presses against the upstairs window, and then, before I park the car, she’s standing on top of the steps outside waiting for me. Maybe she does that with the others, but I haven’t seen it.
I don’t know what it is, or what makes it happen, but the two of us are close. Very close, I guess. And hopefully it’ll stay that way, even though I’m not there. I won’t even be there for her fifth birthday. But I’m sure I’ll be there in spirit!
But for everyone, the hardest part of being away is being away from home, family and friends. And one reconciliation is that I’ll be seeing them again soon. And until then, I think I can hold out, as so can everyone else!
Selina in the most recent photo I have of her.
Posing for the camera in one of those funny expressions she often does.
Bless...
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