Absence
makes the Heart Grow Fonder ©
By Michael Casey
I can remember when my mum went back to Ireland
for a trip in 1973, I really missed her. She had really missed Ireland and had
not been back in ages so she went taking my two sisters and her own sister I
seem to remember. The Jesuit priest who married her was disappointed when they
arrived to visit him in Killarney and I
was not with them.
I mention this because my 3 girls are off on
holiday right now, my wife has not seen her mum for 5 years, so she’s saved up
for the trip. Not being a smoker/drinker/gambler does help save the pennies,
and having a good travel agent/bucket ticker seller also helps.
I’ve got into the spirit of things by using this
Yu Mincho font, it looks really nice, I don’t know how it’ll look when I post
this piece though. I’m turning Japanese I really think so, or turning into Totoro
in my small daughter’s case. She is mad for all this Totoro, so today she
bought a cushion in the shape of Totoro, yesterday she had bought a small
toy Totoro and today the cushion.
I may be back here in Birmingham but I get a
status report every afternoon UK time, or night time Japan time. The wonders of
technology means I can see my daughter running around holding her new toy, her
new joy, her new love. Now that she has a Totoro cushion the little Totoro toy
looks like its baby.
So the obvious question is, who out of the two stuffed
toys she brought all the way from England is the father. Is it Tony or is it
Fudgy? If you remember the piece Stuffing Tony then you’ll know what I’m
talking about.
My wife got a bargain a fancy dress for a
knockdown price, the last one the market had, it looks very posh like an evening
dress maybe. Like a long skirt with a miniskirt on top. You’ll have to ask your
wives and daughters to explain, that’s the best explanation I can come up with.
I am not a Fashionista, just the token male and English speaker in the home.
So then over the Net I have to give a
verdict on this dress, and do they match
the shoes too, see a husband has to work very hard if he has a Shanghai wife.
Then the mother in law walks into shot and I say
hello with my usual greeting in Mandarin, I cannot write it here, but it’s the traditional
greeting in our Shanghai/Birmingham family.
My other daughter bounces across the screen, a
big big smile on her face. The Japanese spot cream really really works, so the
trip to Japan has been worth it, just for the spot cream. There is also the
matter of the eyebrow clippers too, they really really work. My daughter has
been blessed with my eyebrows and derriere, with the clippers she can improve
on one aspect.
Her face she cannot change, for me it’s like
looking back in time and seeing my own face looking back at me, though obviously
she is a female version. For her though the trip has been great. At the weekend
they move to China and Shanghai and chez grannie. So they are enjoying all the
space in the hotel. Grannie has never been to Japan before either, so 2
Shanghai girls and 2 ½ Shanghai girls are eating everything in sight. Remember
Chinese people love food.
So this is how this home alone dad is not totally
alone, I keep a fatherly eye on proceedings with the help of technology. Having
said that its now 5am in Japan, they are fast asleep, me, I’m a bit peckish, so
I make sneak out to the Chinese takeaway.
When in Rome do as the Romans do, or so they say.
picture is from 9 years ago
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