The Reader

Family iftar..

To younger parents,do enjoy your iftar with your children..

Now,I am sixty years old and only the youngest son is living with my wife and me.The other two had already got married and they live on their own.Last night,my second son and his family joined us for iftar.It was great and I have a fun and happy hours with my grandson before and after iftar.My eldest son is away on his departmental course and his wife works 100km away from our home.How I wish all my sons and their wives and kid were with me last night.

Now is my turn missing my children...My mother and late father must had felt the same way when my brother and sister got married and live our lives(exceept my sister) more than 500km from where my mother lives now.

In this holy month of Ramadhan,let us du'a for the blessings of Allah for our families and all muslims all over the world.InsyaAllah.

Family matters..

Many a time,we spent too much time with friends than with our family members..They are our friends too..What are you doin today?Below is my family event for today.

My Sunday 9th June,2013

Where we had our breakfast by the lake..

Sunday with my grandson..

His name is Ahmad Zuhayr Adib.He is now 5 months old and I missed playing  with him when I was at my kampung with my son and my mother last Sunday.On most Sundays,my son Maher will bring him to my house and we have good time together.This is a new routine of weekly joys to my wife and me as his grand parents.NowI only undertand the meaning of being a grand father..

On 21/10/2012,we took our grand son for a morning walk at our favourite garden around Taman Sri Empangan and Pullman Hotel.This is my first time pushing strollers after more than 20 years.My youngest son is now 23 years old.It brought back my  memory of being a father and my wife and me took turn to push the strollers all the way.Thanks to Anis and Maher.

Later, we stopped at a wakaf(gazebo) next to the Empangan and ate our morning breakfast of Nescafe and nasi lemak.It was a very enjoyable weekend for me and my family.May be,one fine day,I can take my grandson Zuhayr for a cycling ride around the garden,insyaAllah.

Family Sunday walk..

I snapped these flowers on 9/12/2007 and love taking photos of flowers and landscapes especially sunsets and sunrises.Today,I am taking my sister and her family for a walk in Putrajaya and smell some flowers...Here is some tips

 

Thank you,Allah!

Today is my 34th wedding anniversay.Time really flies....Now,I have 3 sons and a daughter-in-law.No grandchildren yet but looking forward to it in not too distant future.Two of my kids are already working and the youngest has just entered a university a few kilometres from my house to do civil engineering like his daddy.

First and foremost,let me say my thanks to Allah for this long and blissful life and to my partner-my dear loving and caring wife,Norina for being with me through highs and lows,thicks and thins.First,we started living with our parents ,then we lived on our own and when we got married,we lived with our wives and children.Two of my three sons are now living on their own and in a few years time,it is my wife and me.That is the cycle of life...

To young parents with small children,I know it is very taxing and hectic to manage work and family but take time to enjoy the chaotic fun.When you are in your 50's and 60's like me,you will wish you have more children than you had.

One advantage of living longer lives is we may have deeper knowledge as we get 'meaning of things' over time.Experience upgrade our level of wisdom,insyaAllah.

A few of my friends died before they are 50 and a few had divorces in less than 20 year of married lives.I am very lucky and again,I thank you Allah for your rahmah on me and my family.

Weekend with family

During my morning walk with my wife at Taman Saujana Hijau,P11 ,Putrajaya yesterday I met a young man and his family(wife + 2 daughters) at a gazebo on the top of the garden as shown in the photo below.Besides the gazebo I saw two bicycles-one MTB and a kid bike.The wife was busy setting up the place for them to have family breakfast.I dropped by and said hello to Encik Junaidi and invited him to come to our PIPR #9 on 26/6/2011.I was so glad that he knew about it and he told me that he never want to miss PIPR.That made my day and I went away leaving the family to enjoy their weekend. As we walked down the hilltop,I told my wife this is a good example for young men to enjoy his hobbies with his family on weekends.We should not spend all weekend with friends and leaving family at home or on their own.Saturday is for my wife and kids.If we can't do every weekend,we should allocate at least two weekends  to be with family members.

By the way,how is your weekend?

Weekend with mothers..

I just called my mother and told her that I will be going home to be with her this weekend.I could feel how happy she was when we were having a family conversation.If you have not called your mom in the last two weeks,please do it now.I am sure she remembers you at least five times a day during her solats.

By the way,please do not keep her waiting!

Here is a note I wrote many years ago related to the above sentence.

My walks...

How about yours? I hope this log will inspire my friends to start walking..

 
 

They come and they go...

When my first son had to leave us to study in a full boarding school more than two decades ago, I was excited and equally sad.I was happy for him but my wife and me were going to miss him.We consoled ourselves that we could go and visit him every two weeks since his school is one hour drive form our home.At the same time,he could come home once every month.I told my wife we are lucky as compared to my friend who lost his son when he was much younger.

After his SPM,my first son came back to live with us for two years to get his diploma and later he left us again for another 3 years to get his degree.After getting his degree ,he started his working career and lived with us for one year.Then he got a better offer and moved to a new place some 300km away.After being there for about two years,he reported for duty yesterday at Putrajaya as a civil servant - a 15 minutes drive from my home.

Welcome back back my son.My wife and me are very happy to see all our kids are back home.Just like the old time when we were younger...

By the way,we know it is not  going to be that long when one or two of them will move out again-either for their career advancement/relocations or getting married.I told my wife let us make the hay while the sun shine.C'est la vie...

[the photo shown is a mug given by my kids some 15 years ago on Father's Day..]

Below is my favourite poem:

On Children
 by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.