The Things That Matter

Almost everyone in the family returned home to Penang for Grandma's funeral and prayers. It was the rare occasion when everyone was in one place - having meals together, going places together - just being together. Now that the children are working elsewhere, we rarely ever meet. Aunties and uncles spend more time with their own expanding family. Mom and dad with us.
I missed those times of being together as one big family. It was almost festive-like last week. Even though the main reason was for a funeral, it was the one thing that brought us all back together. In a way, Grandma had always been the one reason everyone got together. We spoke of all the old days, living in the big kampung house in Alor Setar, of Chinese New Year eves together (we rarely do that nowadays with the family scattered all over the place), 'pai thnee kong' (prayer at midnight on the 8th day of the lunar New Year by Hokkien folks) nights when the kids got to stay up late, yummy dishes Grandma used to cook, the graffitti us kids drew on the walls of the old house and the never ending line of dogs we used to have... those are precious memories.
The kids are all grown up now and earning good lives away from home. But it is not the ability to jetset or buy that latest ridiculous gadget or that new dress that is in season that will give us eternal joy.
The things that really matter are usually free but priceless - and my family is on top of that list.