Hari Raya!

These couple of years ... Hari Raya has become a muted affair for us. Our extended family has become more fragmented & (I feel) have lost a lot of the closeness that we used to have. Due to many reasons (I'll rather not get into) ... our family is no longer as close as we used to be. I used to lament ... what has happened to us? But I no longer question life. I accept that things change ... people change ... even family. I'll take whatever good comes out of it ... and leave the rest behind. We no longer expect everyone to be there everytime ... & neither should others.

I love my extended family ... I always will ... but I have accepted that it will never be like the old times coz everyone's changed ... even me! What we have ... we have to treasure and what we've lost is a fond memory. Even this year's Raya photos symbolised that ... I only managed to get photos of my family ... and none of my extended relatives. I'm sad yet I accept our new reality. I'm very grateful and thankful that I have my beautiful family - my son and my hubby to spend this special day with me.

A few things made this Raya slightly more special ... my boy was very excited about Raya as he's more intuned with our religious beliefs (as he has been attending classes to learn more about our religion). He was also very excited about receiving ang pows (he's learning more about the value of money as he gets older). One other good change ... our financial situation has improved (a little) and we are able to bless those around us ... a little more this year. So that's been nice!

One little step at a time yah!