payback

 

when my mother got married, my dad was already a divorcee, almost ten years older than she was, and himself a second cousin to my mom.

that's a triple no-no in my mom's family.

my heartless aunts, and my grandmother (stoneage-minded, all) vehemently opposed the union. they opposed it so much, that they boycotted the marriage.

on the day of the engagement party, minutes before the the groom's family were due to arrive, a witness saw my mom alone in the kitchen, preparing the food she herself had to make, quietly sniffling back her tears.

my mom was told that the marriage wouldn't last, that her life would be a horrific disaster, and that cousins marrying cousins would churn out children who would be the dumbest kids on earth.

two decades later: i went to USA, my sister went to France, and my other sister was doing chemical engineering in the UK.

hah! dumb, my ass.

i often looked at the wedding pictures of my mom, wondering of what must be the torment in her heart, the apparent sadness in her downcast eyes.  but she has been redeemed.  my mom one day quietly confided in me of her pride in the lofty achievements of her children.

it's against this backdrop that perhaps people may understand why i chose to go to the US even though i didn't want to.

it was payback time.