5th September 1965

On this day... on the 5th September in 1965... my parents were engaged to be married. Hanging on a wall beside my table is an old photo of both of them in their best. Papa is in a white shirt and a thin tie with a karipap styled hair. Mom.. my beautiful mother is in a cheongsam which is in different shades of brown and gold.

The photo is in black and white. But i know my mother's beautiful cheongsam because it is still around. A dress she wore 44 years ago.. is still in very good condition. I think my mom made her own cheongsam for her engagement day.

When we were little, we used to love to open her cupboard and look at all her beautiful clothes. I especially love this cheongsam as the material is beautiful. But none of us could fit into it now. When my mom was married, she was thinner than all four of us when we were at her age.

While we were having dinner yesterday, dad mentioned that tomorrow is his and mom's engagement anniversary. We always celebrated their wedding anniversary but never about the engagement anniversary. Now that mom is gone, we always try to take him somewhere on their wedding anniversary so that he won't be sad.

My parents are like siamese twins. They go everywhere together. They even go to the dentist together and give each other moral support. They have been in love for a very long time. Since they were in their teens. It took my dad a long time to adjust to normal life without her. He's still coping and he still visits her every single day at the church without a miss.

My mom is a very beautiful woman (too bad none of us inherited all her good looks) She is like the Asian Sophia Loren. When i look through all her photos from her past, i always think that she is still the most beautiful.

Cherish the ones that you love. Life is indeed short.