Announcing! Announcing!

I am still stuck in 2017. After a holiday, I will spend the next week or two putting together a photobook. And yesterday, I had just arrived in Rome from Florence. There were close to one thousand more photos to get through. How do I summarise everything we've seen in Italy in 100 pages or less? How do I do justice to a wonderful sculpture? How do I decide from which angle the sculpture should be featured in the photobook? Always a dilemma, always leaves me an anguish. With that and Christmas, the last 10 days of December just flew by.

There was nothing big planned to usher in the new year. I only booked dinner at Casa Verde, Botanic Gardens the night before, after last minute attempts to make reservations in several restaurants failed. Although we just got back from Italy, I didn't think the kids would have any objections to pizza and pasta. Besides they've had Peking Duck three times since we got back from the holiday. The restaurant was cosy and cooling sitting outdoors on a rainy evening. It was good to have a quiet moment to enjoy the family in the last few hours of the year.

When we got home, I tried to get the younger kids to clean up and get to bed early. They have been sleeping late and waking up late since they got back from Italy. I was concerned that they would struggle to wake up when school starts on Tuesday.  But they had other plans - they wanted to be awake for the New Year. So after some trying, I relented and went back to my photobook to advance from Rome Day 1 to Rome Day 2 - Vatican City, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. This required my full concentration.

As I was getting into full swing, my wife came into the room and said that she was feeling sad that the year is over. She was sentimental about the baby in the family growing up too quickly and tears were starting to roll down her her face. Before I knew it, she was bawling like a baby. How were we going to ask Mei Mei to hold back her tears if she feels anxious on the first day? But my wife has been holding it in for the last two days and needed to let it out. Mei Mei offered her a handkerchief and gave her a hug. In the meantime, my second son was running in and out of the room mimicking a PA system announcement "Announcing! Announcing! ... [X] minutes left to 2017!" He switched on the radio clock to listen to the year-end countdown. And whether we were ready or not, 2018 arrived. The 2 kids ran to the window to look out for the fireworks which they could hear from a distance. 

This year, a few changes are charging towards us. The baby of the family starts formal school.  On the same day, our eldest son will be going for an overseas mission trip with the church youth group. In a couple of months time, he will be off to National Service and making big decisions about his future. "Announcing! Announcing! ... things are changing real fast." When the changes come, they come too quickly and suddenly, even when we have been preparing ourselves for years. It is like waiting in anticipation for a passing train - you hear it coming in excitement, you see it roar pass you, and then suddenly you find yourself waiving to it as it speeds into the horizon. 

The lesson is not to miss any moment. Ready or not, the 2017 chapter has ended and we have quickly flipped to the next page, to a new chapter. May the good and gracious Lord bless all of our children's coming and going, giving them wisdom, peace and joy in whatever they do.

Happy 2018!