Stand By You

There was no cat today.

But someone greeted me a hearty “HI GRACE!” before I entered the office.

I liked it very much.

***

Mum called and it has become a daily thing now. Sometimes I feel that Mum is more worried of me than my sister who’s studying overseas, despite me being nearer to home and being in Malaysia. And despite me being the elder one. If there were to be a day when I don’t send her an SMS or give her a call. She would say, “Grace, why you never update me today?”

So today’s news update goes something like this..

“Grace, are you in love?”

“No. Why? Do I sound like I’m in love?”

“Aiyo. Nobody wants you, is it? When are you going to be in love? Can you find a better guy? Where do we find a better guy anyway?”

***

You know even if I’m in love now, I feel that it’s very hard to break the news. Do you love who you want to love? Or do you love who you think your parents would love?

I’ve always loved who I want to love but not as of late as I grow older. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the pressure that I get though it isn’t really obvious that my parents are giving me some of them. I can just feel it. You know how parents would interrogate you, which I think is normal and a right thing to do. But what if the answer that I give isn’t what they expect from me?

Of course, there have been times where they do not like the answer that they’re getting and when that happens, I always try to stand by my man. And sometimes, it’s just not easy.

One of the more often mentioned “requirement” that they would prefer to see in someone I would be with is someone who comes from a good family background. It’s easy to say and easy to do if you fall in love with someone after you get to know the whole family history or probably get to meet the whole family. But not all of us fall in love in that sequence.

And I think it isn’t fair to label someone as bad just because he/she comes from a broken family. More often than not, it’s not the choice of him/her to come from a broken family. But you know..sometimes it’s hard to change my parent’s mind. But then again, if it ever happen to me that I choose to be with someone whom my parents think he comes from not a very good family background, I will stand by my man.

Am I a bad daughter?

Perhaps, it’s not really hard to stand by your man. What is hard is finding someone who would walk that path with you and at the same time, stands by you.