At my parents’ house, in a corner of my old bedroom, there is a special brown card box I treasure. The content of the box is a handmade sea glass lamp, a gift from my high school best friend given to me more than a decade ago. She and I were both members of the …
In this memory, I’m five years old, just a month before my sixth birthday. I’m participating in the annual showcase of the local YAMAHA music school with my two best friends and classmates. Wearing the same outfit as last year, the only difference this year is that two of my family members are missing: my …
The day arrivesThe day I’ve looked forward toTold everybody how excited I wasPicked out the clothes a week agoPictured the day many timesCouldn’t have been more ready But then whyWhy this sudden reluctanceJust as I’m ready to go outI find excuses to delayAs if I didn’t want to goAs if I dreaded this very moment
In early May when I was eight, my father’s college friend came to stay with us for several days. What was exciting was that all his four children travelled with him. The eldest was a boy four years older than me, followed by a sister two years older than me and another of my age, …
In this memory, I’m five years old. One day in early December, my mother takes out the box of a Christmas tree kit from the storage and bring it to the living room of our tiny half-dilapidated apartment. It’s a small fake Christmas tree that was bought in the winter my family moved into the …
It was when I was in Grade 2. That year, we had a gardening project to grow sweet potatoes. Early summer, each of us planted a sapling, and it was our assignment to continue watering the plant throughout the summer vacation. Over July and August, the saplings grew into a sea of dark green leaves, …
The clock rewoundThat’s what happenedWhen I entered the storeI was thirteen again School lunchtimeIn the tiny broadcast roomWith two friendsAbout to go live for the lunchtime program My senior puts the music CD into the playerThe best of something from the 90sThe familiar melody starts from the speakerAnd I sit in front of the mic …
In this memory, I’m four years old. Every afternoon, after coming home from playing with my friends, I watch a few TV programs before supper time. One of them is called With Mommy, an educational program designed for kids of my age. In it, young adults with different talents engage small kids in creative activities. …
When I was in kindergarten, I often got pinkeye. Whenever that happened, my mother would drive me to an eye doctor, and on the way home, we sometimes stopped by at a grocery store right around the corner from the eye doctor’s office. The store was old and dark inside, but much larger than the …
Growing up, my father was not big on cooking. It was my mother who prepared all the meals for our family of four. However, when I was about five, one TV show inspired my father to try out a dish on his own. The show had a cooking section where a male amateur chef shared …
