With Christmas I have been a bit busy with things. It always amuses me when people text and reach out when I do not write for a while. My sister told me that I should just write that I am alive on those days. I have a friend who texts me that every couple of days. We have been doing more around the house and my weight is dropping a bit. Normally people getting weight at the holidays but I lose weight right now.
I was talking with my sister and it is interesting that we have different stories that my parents telk us. It helps explain some of their actions and why they do certain things. I mentioned how my dad bought me a ridiculous amount of Golden Graham cereal, and by sister remembers that as well. Now I understand why he did that and I appreciate the gesture even more. Growing up my father was poor. His dad died when he was young and he was the youngest child. He only went to school because he had scholarships, so he always pushed my sister and I. What my sister told me was a story about this eating habits. He would go to a bakery and they had a jar of cookies. My father was unable to pay for a full cookie so he would wait until the jar was empty with crumbs and broken pieces and then buy pieces of that to eat. With food my parents are fantastic. They will always supply us with food we love. When my sister is home if she mentions she loves cheese crackers, my parents make sure we have every kind of cheese crackers accessible for her.
We always want to provide for what we did not have when we were younger. I never had the chance to play hockey when I was young. My parents did the best they could. Now I may go overboard and provide Xavier with whatever equipment he wants. Generally not many 10 year old goalies get custom equipment for themselves. I do this for material goods and experiences.
My dad has a sweet tooth and always has sweet treats around. He missed out on it as a child and now that he is capable he supplies it for himself. When he sees that we enjoy something he always makes sure we did not experience what he had to. Parents wanting the best for their child is admirable. It makes me think about all the little things that they did and the thought process behind it. My dad did not show outward affection growing up because he did not have a father figure who did that as a child. It was a different time back then. I tell Olivier repeatedly multiple times a day that I love him. Admittedly it is more to tease him, but it is something that my father did not do. It makes me sad to hear of some of the things my parents went through and I admire their strength and resilience to make it through so much. I hope that we have lived up to their expectations growing up. They may have not provided a lot of materialistic goods growing up, but I am grateful for the foundation they built in us
Quoc Hao