As i sat in front of my laptop, doing my work intently I could not help but get distracted by the joyful noises of greeting, the asks of "how are you doing?" and the various topics of gossip that arose from within a few minutes of meeting. I never really thought much about family gatherings at my house every Saturday, taking it for granted that the joyous smiles, the aroma of home cooked food and the lively chatter that filled the house would always be there, a source of comfort from the big, wide world out there.

I have never believed in the saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder", but that, I sorely realised was because I never felt the absence of something that was so close to my heart before. The absences that I felt were short term, and though many times I tried so hard to make myself believe that this saying was true, through the absences of friends who go overseas, it never felt as great as what i felt when almost all my relatives left, migrated. The only cousins I had left were adults, and I only had one aunt and one uncle who came, now because everyone left, not so often. Dinners on Saturdays were quiet, hardly any of us conversed across the table, it was as if each of us were thinking the same thing, thinking of the past, when there had been some inexplainable joy of a huge family gathered together. My aunt and uncle came early, so we ate early, and quietly and they left early, it was almost as if my house had just become another one of the eateries one did not have a connection with. It was then that the empty aching feeling of loneliness came from what I never realised I had treasured so much till i lost, my family.

I have heard so many times, so many stories, from so many friends on how they dislike their family, and for lack of a better thing to say, I would complain about mine with them. Things like unreasonable parents, nosey relatives and insensitive siblings, but i realised that amidst all these things, are a group of people that I cannot live without. I would not go so far as to say that my family was perfect, I admit to every little flaw that could be found within each family, and if truth be told, I'm wondering how my extended family still functions with all the discord sowed. The gossips that I hear about my close relatives, the unforgiveness that some still hold against others, the indecision that has made families split up so they live across the globe, all these do not make my family perfect in the least. I feel that perfection in families comes from within, through all the quarrels, betrayals, gossips, this is the group of people that will follow you through your entire life lest you choose it not to be.

Due to a chain of expected or unexpected, I still dont know, turn of events though, the family that has been spread across the globe has been recalled under the simple spell, love. I think its amazing what a sickness can do to a family, just like how a huge natural disaster can do to the world, it makes everyone come together. I'm quite glad that the sickness happened, actually, because I cannot imagine, if the sickness didnt hit, when the next time would be that I would hear the lively chatter of relatives, relinquish in the juicy gossip shared when you put a group of Eurasians together, and see the wide spread of various dishes that fill the dinning table with endless clatter of cutlery.

The warmth that had nothing to do with being cramped at the overcrowded dinning table, engulfed me into a wave of thought, I would not trade my family for anything, even if you could give me the world, because I already have my world, the indestructable fortress that God has bestowed me, my family.

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okay, how's that for an essay?
right, I know i'm not supposed to be online & doing nonsense which is what i've been doing, so yeah. I think the essay has some inappropriate phrasings like the last line, I KNOW, "indestructable fortress", haha I couldnt think of anything else to replace that so that it still contains the same grandeur. Kay, I shall go practice physics, it always fails me.

Tata! oh, if you wanna give me feedback, just leave a message on the tagboard, i'd be more than happy!