In traditional family structure, it is customary that family members are assigned specific roles. But since I am a solo parent with two wonderful kids, the roles are not that strictly followed. Thus my daughter, Kimlu is also my best friend. It certainly did not happened overnight but we just noticed it when she reached adulthood. We share a lot of laugh, tears, stories that sometimes we never got tired of sharing and re-telling. We are different in many ways but we compliment each other. I am grateful for this child – she is intuitive, witty, loving, devoted and very wise beyond her years. She is my strength,my rock and pillar. On the day of her wedding, I cannot help but cry with joy and pride . I saw not only the woman who is walking alone on the aisle to the waiting arms of her husband, I saw the baby, toddler, little girl struggling to say the words… ” mommy I am getting married”. It is a flash- series of images… I wished I had freeze it like kodak moments.
Now she is creating her own nest with her husband. But we continued to chat, text, or call at least three times a week. We still share our stories about work, about anything, books we read or even our dreams … I say to her ” my daughter and my bestfriend”.
I remember Kahlil Gibran’s poem on 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.
