I'm suddenly remembering the recent Eidul Adha.
I was sitting next to my cousin Lene's eldest son, Haq - he was so engrossed with the game Sims 2 on our laptop. So I was looking at the family he's been creating for the past 1 hour or so...
Me: So this is your family?
Haq: Yup. 6 of them. 2 adults, 1 teenager, and 3 children.
Me: Wow.. ramai nye!
Haq: (Smiling, and proceeded to describe to me..) Cik Yam, ni Ayah dia, ni Mak dia. Ayah dia ada 2 anak, yang ni boy ni, and the teenager boy. Mak dia pun ada 2 anak, yang ni girl Mak dia dukung, and yang ni also girl Ayah dia tengah dukung.
Me: ............
OMG.. I'm telling you guys. I was rendered speechless. And I mean.. really speechless.
Here was a 10-year-old boy.. who so calmly went on and explain that he created (albeit in a Sims game) a family consisting of a couple, each with 'broken family' from previous marriages / relationships.
I felt that there was a huge lump stuck in my throat, for I really cannot say anything to respond to what he just told me. I just sat there like an idiot, staring at Haq. And he simply carried on, busy creating the perfect home for his 'family'.
For he has basically described his own existance.
You see.. My cousin Lene married young. But something couldn't be resolved along the way, and the marriage didn't work out. The marriage produced 2 boys - Haq and Fir. The two boys live with Lene, but they do spend a lot of time with their father's side of the family.
Manja as my nephew Haq might be sometimes, this incident made me realised: Haq is actually very well into his path of growing up. It seems that he and his younger brother Fir have both already accepted (long ago) that they have 2 homes to go to - one with the mom, Lene, and another with the father (and his new family - he has remarried since). I think the stepmom and the father are now having children of their own.
In some ways, I think I've been leading a more sheltered life than this young boy. Haq suddenly seems to be the grown-up here, and me the small kid, still trying to grasp the meaning of marriage, and having a family, and divorce.. among other things.
To Haq and Fir, my love to you both, lots of love.
And to Lene, your boys are very OK, don't you ever forget that. They're turning out to be quite mature for their age, but maybe it's not right to expect them to act that way the whole time eh? After all, they are still kids, kan?
