I know a lot of medical fact, some trivia about people in showbiz and other useless facts. But can I recall even one at this moment; Nopes!
Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
Right now I just have small snacks and they can’t be classified as meals. Perhaps the one snack I like most is in the morning, for I can have a few sips of tea or coffee with it.
What do you enjoy most about your blog?
I love writing my posts. Getting inspired by different prompts and responding to them makes my creative juices flow. The second best is reading the blogs of those who I follow, and of course reading the comments on my blog.
What are you passionate about outside of writing?
I like to see society treat everyone justly. I am quite vocal about the issues people are facing all over the world. While I don’t/ can’t take any actions practically regarding these matters, I like to raise awareness through my writing and when I interact with people who are receptive to such topics.
Because you know that I will miss you every minute
I am your mother and I know you so well
I know that the thought of me wanting by the phone
Will make you pick up your phone and dial home
Why?
I ask myself that you still haven’t called?
Are you okay? Are you too busy or have just forgotten?
There is a sound and my heart breaks
I can feel the pain when splinters pierce my skin
Wait……
The phone is ringing and it is you
Yourflight got delayed because of the weather
And you want me to know that you miss me
My heart mends itself and the world rights itself
My baby is doing well and I need not worry anymore
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A few years back, with my kids away from home, I was the one sitting by the phone, waiting for them to call. Many parents have gone through this cycle of emotions just because their child called later than expected.
Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 21st and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “count on it.” Use the phrase “count on it” somewhere in your post. Enjoy!
Did you have a boisterous or a more reserved personality?
Were you more confident or did you tend to be insecure?
Were you social or were you more of a loner?
Were you a good listener or a good talker?
Did you like school or dread it?
Did you like the outdoors or did you prefer staying inside?
Did you have deep thoughts about the world, the universe, etc., or did you only see as far as where you lived?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Looking back, how did you fare as an adult? Are you still that same person or have you changed? If you changed, was it a dramatic shift or just slight changes? Did you end up in the profession you thought you would?
I’ll answer the questions in one composite post.
I was a shy child, probably because I lost my mom as a child and had no sister. My father devoted himself to his three kids but he was a busy man, working in a high-ranking government job.
With my father and brothers, I was boisterous and talkative but very quiet with strangers. The same was with my level of confidence, with family I was confident but outside home I was hesitant.
I liked to daydream alone. Making stories, roaming the lawns of our home, and imagining things, probable and improbable too. I was both a talker and a listener as a child. As I grew up I became more of a talker than a listener. Now I am trying to be a better listener. It’s hard.
When my father re-married, our home life became quite stressful so I preferred school to stay at home. Holidays were hard for at any moment something may trigger my stepmom into a fit of self-pity and a feeling of not being treated well ( it was always something to do with my very opinionated elder brother)
As kids we were always outside, riding our bikes, making sand castles, and playing cricket and hockey. But I had the ability to entertain myself, wherever I was.
I was a philosopher from my teen years. I loved Allama Iqbal, our national poet, and would memorize his poems and discuss them with my father and grandfather who also loved his poetry. My deep thinking gave me the gift of strong faith in God and it strengthened my character.
I dreamed of being a doctor, a female surgeon, we had a few of them in our country at that time. But fate decreed something else for me. I have never regretted this change in my life’s path. In fact, I’ve been able to help my family and friends through my part-time medical education!
I’m quite satisfied with the person I’ve become. It was an insidious change, gradually increasing my confidence, making me able to speak up more and let my voice be heard. 4 years ago I started blogging and that opened up a whole new world for me. My mind opened up and became receptive to new ideas. Blogging has made me a better, more well-informed person and has gifted me so many friends from all over the world.
With deep nostalgia, I remember the amount of energy that I used to have!
Raising three kids, looking after the home affairs, finding time to exercise regularly every day, and meeting friends in the evening was the norm rather than the exception.
Now in my sixties, I am done after doing a quarter of what I used to do during the day, feeling like a need to lie down or at least plonk my backside in a recliner with a cup of tea or decaf coffee.
People tell me that growing older teaches us to value our free time and to use it wisely to rest our bones in between the daily chores.
Perhaps as I grow older, I should stop comparing myself to my younger self when I used to move around like a pet on zoomies but should appreciate the grace a slower demeanor brings to me.
Well, as long as I can look after myself and my home without asking for help from others, I should be grateful for the energy I do have still left.
As a kid, I was a girl guide and my brothers were Boy Scouts.
The girl guides weren’t taught anything regarding camping but the Boy Scouts were taught all the skills they’d need to survive in the wild, including setting up a tent, making fire, and tying knots.
My younger brother was very close to me and he used to share whatever he learned in his lessons, so I too learned the basic survival skills, including tying different sorts of knots; nautical knots, reef knots, and slip knots.
Learning how to tie a reef knot was a useful skill as it meant I could secure two things with rope or string with no fear of the knot slipping.
The things we learn as children have a way of slipping into our deep subconscious and making them instinctive so whenever I want to secure something, I automatically tie a non-slip knot.
This word took me back half a century to the days when we were eager to learn new skills and then show them off to others to impress them.
You died without us being aware of the tragedy happening
We were too young to understand or grieve for your loss
Took me many many years to accept what fate had dealt us
No one talked about you when we were young
Perhaps they thought it would be too painful for us
I grew up without knowing the mother who birthed me
Forever imagining what sort of person you were
Life goes on, and people learn to live with loss
We did too but there is a big hole in the place
Where your love and memories should have resided
But I can say despite all that emptiness
I love you mother
Though it’s been 55 years
Since I saw you last
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This week I chose this image for a reason. Today it’s been 55 years since my mom passed away. This poem is to express my feelings about her passing which have always been buried deep in my heart for there was never a time I openly grieved for her. It was always too late.
September 12, 2022, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about balloons on a bumper. Is it a spectacle, an occasion, an eccentricity? Why are the balloons there? Who is involved? Go where the prompt leads!
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Mourning the death of a loved one is natural, but most people who have lived a full life prefer that their life be celebrated rather than mourned.
When I die, I’d like there to be balloons tied to the hearse, people singing and dancing and telling each other of happy occasions they spent with me. I’d love to leave behind a happy legacy in the hearts of people. I do hope that they would recall only the good things that I did or said and not the petty stuff that we all are guilty of from time to time.
Keep it alive 
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