When I was a teenager, my dad and I went somewhere to eat. I dropped a twenty cent coin from my purse but ignored it. He asked me if I was going to pick it up, I foolishly said no and said ‘it doesn’t matter dad, the value is too little for anything’.

My dad kept quiet for a few minutes, I got scared when I saw his reaction and picked up the coin right away. In the end, he didn’t scold me, but he told me something I will never forget.

When he was little, he was getting ready for school with his brother. As they were about to leave their room, my grandmother came in and offered them some pocket money. My dad and uncle were excited. Life wasn’t easy then, my grandfather was the sole income provider for a family of ten. While they were waiting for my grandmother, they wondered what took her so long. They couldn’t see her face because her back was facing them, but as her cries got louder and louder, they knew she was upset that the money was gone. She kept rummaging through her drawer, the pocket money was obviously not there anymore but she still had hoped it was still there. The thought of my dad and uncle waiting for her and my poor grandmother clinging for hope for that 20 cents will forever be imprinted in my mind. Of course I cried like a baby when my dad told me this, but I’m glad he did because from that day I never let a coin out of my sight, if I find one I would always pick it up and kept it somewhere and my admiration and love for my grandmother never stopped growing.

The last time we had a family holiday on my dad’s side was 10 years ago, practically half of the family members we have now did not exist back then. As most of my uncles and aunties grew older, travelling anywhere far wasn’t practical, so we made it happen by having it somewhere close.

Planning a 3 days holiday wasn’t a walk in a park, especially when there was almost 70 people on board. Months of planning was dedicated for the 3 days we had at Templer Park. But in the end, it was worth it.

Those who put the family day together met up often, we had so many meetings, my throat couldn’t swallow any more Mahbub chicken dinners and Domino’s Pizza, but to be honest I enjoyed seeing my cousins during our meetings. I realized that it was a luxury, we’re so busy and engrossed with our own lives now that we forgot how it was like to be together again.

Because it took us so long to plan it, our first day felt kinda surreal to me. The place was amazing, there were 2 kitchens, an infinity pool with a big unicorn float and a huge pond that was home to fish, ducks and turtles. We had the whole place to ourselves.

I find it funny that the last time we had this sort of holiday, most of us were still kids. Now, it was our children that was running around.

Bubbles are ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA

I gotta admit, seeing how much fun the children had made me miss being a kid too.

Then there’s the pool…

and games!

But there were times when we felt like children too…

It’s hard to get everyone under one roof, even during the Eid festivities. Some would take turns celebrating with the other side of their family so the quorum isn’t always as full. Ever since I got married I realised I never had enough time to see this side of the family during Eid, sometimes I don’t get to see them at all so my heart felt so full when we were all together.

During our last night, my Kak Nana put together a surprise slide show for everyone to see. It started with pictures of my late grandfather, pictures of my dad and his siblings growing up and our childhood pictures too. Rauf may be too young to understand what the pictures were all about but I hope one day he gets to be part of something like this when he grows up.

Our last day was bittersweet, we slipped a short round of cards against humanity and took hundreds of family photos. Before leaving the place everyone hugged my grandmother goodbye. As I took her hands and kissed them, she pulled my face up and said ‘thank you for doing this for me’. I felt a huge lump in my throat and tears started to flow through my eyes. I looked at her frail hands, the hands that raised and sacrificed for her 8 children, I could only kiss her more and said I love you back. I told her I cant wait to see her when she’s back in KL.

If there is anything that the 3 days (and the days leading up to it) had taught me is that the only legacy that matters to leave behind is your family. Towards the end of the trip I asked my dad if he thought everything went okay, he looked at me, smiled and said ‘I think it was beyond our expectations, kak’. Somehow the way he smiled at me made me remember the boy in the story he told me years ago, I hope the boy in him was happy too.

Credit: Photos taken by my talented and amazing cousins