Sirih Pinang

There's been a big milestone back home. Today my parents welcome their first daughter in law into the family. The last wedding in the family was mine, a few years ago. Sadly I was unable to be a part of the current celebrations, except by sending home a video greeting and by helping out with the presentation during the wedding reception.

I hear the joy in my parent's voice when they tell me about the marriage. It seems quite different from the expression that they had when I got married. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, and well, my brother's a boy. People have said it's harder to give your daughter away to marriage. Maybe it seemed like they were losing me to my husband, instead of them getting a new son in law. In way, it's been somewhat true as I've uprooted myself from my home to be with my husband in a land far away from my family. I've been home a few times, but a trip is long overdue. So many cousins have given birth, so many of them have gotten married and we need to make sure that our relatives realize that we have not forgotten about them.

Nevertheless, I'm ecstatic to welcome a sister into the family. She's always been sweet and comes across as a very nice person. I haven't had the chance to sit down for a long chat and to get to know her because when I left Malaysia she and my brother were still a few years into their relationship. She was also studying overseas at the time so I only saw her once a in a while, during her breaks and only during those times she and my brother spent at home. Most of the time they were out with their friends.

Anyway, I'm very surprised that I'm not as emotional as I thought I would be for not being back home for this new chapter of our family's life. My friends and relatives have been surprisingly understanding by accepting my absence at the wedding reception without any questions. I do hope my life will settle down and stabilize so I will be able to travel when I want to and not only when I have the necessary approval papers.