Happy Birthday to my mom...

Today is my mother's birthday.

I remember this day as one where there was a buzz in our house with more phone calls and drop-in visits than one could handle on a particular day.

It was always her highlight of the year !!

Today my mom has no idea that it is her birthday.
Dementia robbed her from the joy and awareness that comes with this day.

But WE know... and we celebrate her life still to this day.

I am so thankful for the wonderful mother that brought me into this world.

I love her.

Typhoons and Technology don't go together.

A typhoon was coming... so I heard.

I had no idea what to expect and also didn't even give it a second thought...

Untill I was woken up early this morning with the trees banging on the bedroom window and the electric cables violently swinging back and forth entangled in the top leaves of the trees reaching beyond the third floor of our house.  I heard the wind gushing in somewhere.... this door had flung open at 5.30 am ...how did that even happen??? 

Yes - it is closed now - I don't carry my camera around 5.30 am.

The kids woke up and messages from the school came in from more than one source..

NO SCHOOL today.

Kind of a relief when you realise that there would be no rush to finish breakfast to catch the bus, no responsibilities for the day - since every other person in this town would be doing the same thing...waiting for the typhoon to take its course, move through and then move on.

The power dipped...dipped again and then it was all dark.

With a squirt of foam soap in his hands, my husband realised that there was no water to wash hands...

Kids' excitement of a whole day hanging around where you can watch TV, play games, watch silly stuff on computers soon turned a little gloom when they realised - 

no power = no computers =  no internet = no TV

.....WILL WE SURVIVE this ONE day without ANY technology??!!

You can live without those...that I knew in my own mind....

but when I realised that we also dont have any bread or milk in the house, my mind did start to wander to "what else could I feed them for a whole day if all other foods are frozen or needs a microwave!"

Some days my life flashes before me like a typhoon...a sudden burst of chaos...

But the good coming out of a typhoon is definitely this..

Life stops for a while... you realise how lucky we are every morning to be able to take a shower...have a cup of coffee....or even just wash the smelly fish dish that got left behind last night after the shrimp pasta  I made - when there is suddenly no water.

You realise how lucky you are to have lights by the click of a button....to have computers that connect you to the outside world.....how thoughtfully you suddenly have to use your mobile phone to make sure its' battery power outlasts the storm.....or you would be completely disconnected from the rest of the world....for even 10 minutes??!!!  CRISIS.... in this day & age....

You realise how lucky you are to be in a safe house....away from all the sharp objects and tree sticks that are flying all over and have shattered green leaves all over the street in front of us...

The typhoon is over and all I hope is that we would remember all these things and be thankful for all of these....when we start taking them for granted again.....as soon as the first light beams out again...as soon as the familiar start-up chime from the computer comes on...and as soon as the first drop of water drips from the faucet again...

HOW LUCKY WE ARE.....

The typhoon is over...the technology is coming alive again..

I can blog...we can buy bread and LIFE IS GOOD!