His wife got pregnant, after they’d been trying, a long, long time, and it’d been, all worth the wait! Translated…
After I was married, I’d worked hard for a living for a couple of years, a lot of things, didn’t end well in my belief, and I’d, stopped looking, forward to Christmas, believed, that “believing doesn’t make miracles happen.” But, I’d never, turned down the gifts exchange, I’d still, forced myself, to get in the mood for it.
a GIGANTIC present this is all right!!!
To match up to the theme of the year: waiting, I’d, bought the lavender seeds, hoped that my friend who’d received them, in the trials of their work, can expect the aromas from the corner of her/his workstation. After a few hours of catching up, I’d gone home, picked up the present I’d received, it was, an easily missed rectangle box, a classic wrap; opening it up, what I saw, was laughable, because I couldn’t use it, I’d, put it aside.
A few weeks later, one evening at supper, my wife told me she’d lost her appetite, and that it’d been over a month since her last period, I’d suddenly recalled that “gift”. Although she kept saying, “it’s not happening, we’d tried for a long time………” she’d still, taken it into the bathroom, then, came out, and announced, that in ten months, she will have a HUGE present for me. This pregnancy test, really had, defined “waiting” all right.
And so, sometimes, when you try too hard, things wouldn’t happen, but after you’d relaxed some, and, just go about your lives like you would, then, things started, happening, that’s how, almost EVERYTHING works in life!
The Meanings of the Trips
How she’d, gained a deeper level of understanding, of the meanings of the trips she’d taken from when she was younger, through the years, as she “grew up”…translated…
Like most people I enjoy traveling, as I was younger, perhaps, it’d, served the purpose of seeing the beautiful sights, and many beautiful women. For the sake of “tasting the Parisian Nights or Beijing in the Snow”. I kept my gazes forward.
Back when I was younger, I didn’t have as much money, and, my trips needed to have a clear cut destination. Other than the first time we went as a whole family, to visit my older brother who was studying in Boston, we’d visited the U.S. from the north to the south, other than visiting the sights, I’d also, acquainted myself, to living in the U.S., as a warm up for my studying abroad to the U.S. the following year.
During the time of my study abroad, I’d traveled, with NO set destinations. I’d loved those small trips I’d taken, a group of us would fly to Atlanta or New Orleans following our finals. Or, at the start of the break, to take that Greyhound, and embarked on a journey. I didn’t care if the bus was late, didn’t care of the hotels are neat and clean. The wasting of our time from the delays, that seemed to mean, that we were young, and we still had, the time, and, those old and beaten down motels, made me feel like I’m in an old film. I’d loved meeting up with those weird and wacky people on the way, or, those meaningless sights I’d taken a note of.
As I’d returned back, work became chaotic, with the flourishing of the economy in the 90s, other than the occasional trips, there is, no such thing as trips. And, I’d become, too fatigued from work, so I’d, decided to marry and have children, and, my only request for my husband as we were wed was that we need to take a trip every single year. And, after we had our children, that, was when these trips, became luxuries for real, one year I’d gone with my husband on his short-term study abroad, with my two young kids, going through Disney, that was, torture. I couldn’t take it, and, my husband didn’t need to fulfill the promises to me of taking me on the trips.
I’d fallen silent for years on end, then, returned BACK to work, I’d suddenly found myself, longing for the journeys now. Wasn’t going abroad on a trip my biggest wish every year? It’s, like to fulfill what I’d missed out on these years gone past, I’d, traveled many more times this year, and, considering the language and the distances, I’d, selected to go to China and Hong Kong, and Macau too.
As I grew older, the journeys I’d taken, I’d no longer, chased after the scenes anymore. I’d loved making the partial plans, and, the other half of the trip, unplanned. After selecting a few sights I wanted to visit, everything else, what to have for the food, who to visit, where to visit, I’d decided, as I’d, arrived. The good thing about this is, it’s, stress free, I can sleep until my heart’s content. And, there were, surprises and interesting things that were, added in these sorts of unplanned journeys. And, isn’t this, the meaning of journeying?
Traveling as I grow old, it isn’t necessarily to find some new sights. I’d read the book by Kuniko Mokuda, “Times of a Man, of a Woman”, it’d mentioned “traveling in reverse”, and, it’d made me understand, that what’s most beautiful I encountered on these trips, aren’t the sights, but the measures I take, to savor the memories I’d made in the future. She’d mentioned after taking her mother to Hong Kong, and later her mother saw the shows touring in Hong Kong, she’d started making note of which places she’d gone with her daughter. And, our loving to sorting through the photos we’d taken on our trips, isn’t that, a sort of, recalling too?
Simply stated, at a certain age, we’d become, nostalgic. And, this may come early or late for various people, but for me now, it’s no longer, just looking forward, most of the times, I’d, enjoyed, looking back. And so, other than visiting places I’d never been, I’d also, loved visiting the places I had already been repeatedly. I liked Hong Kong, and I still hadn’t seen China completely yet, I’d, missed the streets of Tokyo too.
And, when you start to enjoy reminiscing, that means that you’re, getting older, to make sure I don’t stay in the same place, I’d, decided, to traveling to places, and start, looking forward, and back.
And so, this marked, the rite of passage of life for you, traveling had gained a brand new meaning to you, from before, you were younger, and you hadn’t had that much life experiences, and so, there’s, not enough depth in what you experience and how you experienced the trips you’d taken, but now, as you’re getting older, with that added age, you are, better at, traveling, without the rush, and just, taking it slow.