Heylo, everybody! Well, the end of 2016 is fast approaching and here’s another instalment of my Xmas Greetings to you all. XD Hope 2016 has been an eventful, fruitful and productive year for you!
I’ll sheepishly confess: I actually began the year feeling like the most pathetic human on the planet, because smack bang in the middle of summer, I went and caught myself a freaking COLD. >< When mother takes me to see the doctor, I apologise profusely to him, saying, “I’m so sorry doctor; I’m probably the most pathetic human being you’ve ever seen, because it’s the middle of bloody Summer right now but here I’ve gone and caught myself a freaking cold!” The doctor laughs and reassures me that it’s actually quite common; people often catch colds in summer when they move frequently between places of differing temperature, like an air conditioned room then a hot stuffy one. For some reason, that cold also left me without any appetite whatsoever; I asked the doctor was it okay if I skipped some meals and he replied that it was fine if I didn’t eat until I felt hungry again and told mother just to keep me well hydrated with some lime juice squeezed into cups of water.
Anyways, it wasn’t anything that a can or two of Campbell ’s Cream of Chicken soup (apparently, that’s the Aussie cure for a cold? I always say well, if that doesn’t work, look on the bright side: at least it tasted great! XD) and two days of solid bed rest couldn’t fix; very soon, I was back into the grand scheme of things.
Partway through the year, a former high school classmate who I’m now Facebook friends with introduced me to one of his mates, who was ‘big on baptisms, faith healings and that kinda stuff’. To cut a very long story short, I met one of these supposed ‘faith healers’ and got prayed over. Unfortunately, nothing ever came out of it, but this lady did leave me with a new perspective on life. See, when she and her friend shared with me how good life in heaven will be after your Earthly life here has finished, I rather bitterly told her, “Great, I will have all ETERNITY to regret this one life I have here on Earth that God is so cruelly wasting now!” However, this woman told me, “Oh no, don’t worry. Once you’re in heaven, you’ll view your Earthly life with as much regard as you do now a hang nail.” Well, putting it that way, maybe I really needn’t worry too much about my life here on Earth and how the cruel and unfaithful God is wasting it now?
Several years back, around 2012, I helped tutor English to a church aunty’s nephew. Her sister came over from Hong Kong to visit us, and we shared lunch together one afternoon. Over the meal, she asked me had I ever considered resuming tertiary studies again. Back in 2008, when I’d first been released from the insane asylum (more commonly known to everyone else as the Brain Injuries Rehab Ward of the Princess Alexandra Ward XD), I’d told mother that I wanted to return to uni. She’d taken me to see the disabilities officer at UQ, who said that if I wanted to study at university-level again, I’d haveta take some kinda neuro-psych test. Well, I tried but obviously failed, seeing that I did not get to resume tertiary studies. I told Aunty Isabella that story and she was like, “Well, that was back in 2008. It’s 2016 and maybe you’re better now; why not try again?” This time, I went through distance ed., with Curtin University
Something momentous for me this year was that I started dreaming again! Yes, back when I was still imprisoned in the insane asylum, the cruel and unfaithful God would plague me nightly with multiple terrifying nightmares; after I was finally released and finally caught up on all my lost sleep (everyday I’d sleep till like 11am or 11:30 but still take a three/four hour afternoon nap and after dinner hit the sack by 9pm, tops) I just totally stopped dreaming. Like, bid my teddy sweet dreams, fall asleep and suddenly a new day has dawned. Then suddenly, this year I start dreaming again! My first dream is of me having yum cha with my dearest dad; when I woke up, I complained to my tummy why couldn’t she have chosen sth yummier coz goodness knows I can’t stand yum cha! XD The next night, I dream that I’m heading into the Cheesecake Shop to buy sth for mother! When I tell her about my dream, she laughs and scoffs at me, “You’re such a greedy guts.” So when I have a third dream, about mother and I walking hand-in-hand to the Sunnybank Hills library with no food in sight, I immediately tell her that she can’t call me a greedy guts anymore, coz there was absolutely not a hint of food in that dream! However, shortly afterwards, I have another dream: this time, mother and I are walking along some mountain trail; we’re going to have a picnic together! A friend who I’ve made at Toastmasters has concluded that thus far, all my attempts to gain food have been thwarted, but she encourages me, “Dare to keep dreaming, Em. I’m positive you will reach the food one day.” Well, to date, I’ve had one more dream; in this one, I’m filling out some Christmas survey, so no food in this one either, but I am just so stoked that I now have nice normal dreams (i.e. no more nightmares) and I look forward to having more dreams come 2017 and finally reaching the food at long last! XD
One definite highlight of my year was visiting the Ekka one night for just under two hours! Obviously, I haven’t been able to go ever since the cruel and unfaithful God so wantonly destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour back in 2007, and I realised this year would be my last chance to go before I reached the ripe old age of thirty! So I started asking around, was anybody free to please take me, and sure enough, I got to go!
I had two main goals to accomplish while I was at the Ekka: (1) Eat a Dagwood dog and (2) try a strawberry sundae, coz I’ve heard that they are both must haves. The Dagwood dog was an absolute delightful pleasure; if you’d let me, I could eat them all day! The strawberry sundae, however … the woman selling them was seated quite high up, and since I was seated in my manual wheelchair, she passed it down to the aunty who had taken me to the Ekka. Said aunty turned around to hand me the strawberry sundae, and plop! The strawberry falls off and hits the dirt! “Oh no!” I gasp. “Quick; three second rule!” The aunty that took me to the Ekka frowns. “No, it’s fallen into the dirt; you can’t eat that now. Just eat the rest of the ice cream.” I wail, despondent, “But I can’t have a strawberry sundae without the strawberry!” Luckily, the seller hears my distraught wail, immediately leans over and says, “Oh, did your strawberry fall off? Here, have another one.” I am profuse in my thankyous; when the seller sticks a fresh strawberry back into my sundae, you can bet I jammed it straight into my mouth; there was no way I’d be letting that slippery little sucker escape again! XD
Anyways, the end of 2016 is nigh; I’d just like to take the opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year. May 2017 be a productive year for you all; I wish you the very best in all your upcoming endeavours and whatever the New Year may bring! I look forward to staying in touch with everyone come 2017~
Cheers,
Em. ^^
P.S. Apologies that this greeting comes one day late; originally I’d meant to post it up for everyone on the 11th, meaning everyone would have two weeks to reply before Christmas arrived, but last night my parents and I had to take my Aunty Sally to the airport coz she was heading back to Hong Kong; by the time we arrived home, ‘twas nearly 11pm and obviously there was no way the parents would allow me to stay up and finish it! XD
No comments:
Post a Comment