circa December 26, 2010, 01:02 : today, i finally let things be, and it is slowly concluding to a goddamn good one.

awoke to scrambled eggs, coffee, and the feeling of not having to go into work on this ought-to-be-filled-with-90s-cartoons-one-saturday-morning. my sister and brother in law came over. daddy made a delicious chicken meal. we ate together. the food was really good. next thing you know we're exchanging gifts - neither of us expected as much. post dinner, while mum's infamous sweet tea settles, we all curl up under layers of blankets in the couches of our basement and big screen tv. daddy slips in a dvd sent from back home - a home recording of his two sisters (the three, are the last survivors of a family of 11 siblings) and their consequent extended family. suddenly we're observing physical land my dad owns on the other side of the world, of which, he has not visited for almost 20 years. one cute story, follows one heartbreaking one, and yet regardless, we're swimming in black and white nostalgia. the video concludes, and i'm not sure how, but it sparks one of my absolute favourite, and absolute rare activities. family discussion. an actual roundtable of opinions and thoughts. we go from sitting in fascination as my father recounts his days as a freedom fighter, to discussions on the malleable nature of religion, and how happy we are to not be fanatics. on the cusp of having looked through those magical photo albums, mommy slips a story that seems so tiny, but so empowering all at the same time. (incase you ever forget: the story of getting her drivers license, and the following phone call to daddy). it even gets to the point where i find myself giving my mother a crash course in sex ed, and no, it's not remotely awkward. because, and i'm not sure when it happened, but at some point, everyone in the family started being adult-size, and we began to appreciate this ability to talk to each other as grown ups. but i'm still sruti, and my life is still sruti, so of course the sillyness of the entire concept sparks giggling. i say, "okay well, that first part happens - you know about that right? we don't have to get into that?" and my mom's cracking up, and my dad in all his occasional bill murray hilarity, responds in this dead pan voice, and says, "I forgot" - sparking even more ridiculous laughter. and in it's regularity, there are awkward bits - but in its rarity there are no grand fights. there is simply a conversation. eventually that ends, and i'm in bed with my cheese, reading my pretentious music magazines, followed by a screening of scott pilgrim, fulfilling my nerdy quota of the day. until i bump into dad in the kitchen on a mutual midnight snack run, and i follow him down for a late night screening of sabrina starring audrey hepburn. and it's magical. i know i'm draped in perma-drama, but nothing about this is exaggerated. it was, and so i'm going to bed tonight, simply content. 

and i know, i know, going to the internet and blogging about how significantly magical your day was completely defeats the purpose of finally letting things be, but old habits die quite hard and i'm currently content enough to not mind.