Something that we don't usually think of, but worth every second it may be

Ok, balik kat topic Mctyiere. Budak2 Mctyiere ni yg buat dia unik dari yg lain is that kitaorang tak malu nk buat apa2. Benda yg make sense la tapi. Jgn la suruh kitaorang pg sembelih zirafah ke ape kan. Nak carik urat merih dia pon terkapai2 kot. Illustration seterusnya ni drawing yg kitaorang buat years ago, untuk prove kan nape hall ni exist in the first place.

The dancing samurai

Utk orang yang tak berapa sakai expert dalam bab interpret gambar, meh aku tolong explain. Gambar ni pasal 2 samurai yg hidup dia slalu chill buat ape2. Rock and roll tu kan budaya America and sunglasses kaler2 tu kan common jumpa kat Europe. So, gambar ni nak cakap, even though kita ni rumpun berbeza, kita tak malu utk embrace new stuffs and make it better than it is. Yang membezakan benda tu is minat and whether kita berani tak buat benda yg orang serumpun ngan kita tak buat. Jgn segan2 or malu2 ar senang crite kalau nk buat ape2 yg ko minat. Jgn minat ko merampok bank sudah la.

Senang crite, kalau ko suka belajar Japanese, sedangkan orang lain sibok belajar arab sbb subject tu senang, ape exactly yg ko akan buat? Belajar semata2 utk grade saje2 or utk kebaikan or interest diri sendiri? Remember, you know YOURSELF BETTER. Nobody else does. Personally, aku rasa baik grade rendah dari easy A. Pernah dulu aku tanya budak2 Vandy, nape tak ambil bahasa lain selain Arab? Dgn slumber, diorang ckp, owh, sbb EASY A kot. Well, bukan semua la, tapi ada portion2 yg bg jawapan camtu. And tak kurang yg tanya soalan defensive, nape ko tak ambek Arab? Tak nak belajar bahasa Quran ke? (jawapan plg defensive and offensive at the same time). Nak tergelak pon ade bila teringat benda ni.

Incik, fikir dulu before tanya. Korang ingat Arab je ke bahasa dlm dunia ni? Kalau ye, nape mat salleh, org cina, jepun, korean tak ckp arab and still bawak negara diorang jauh lagi maju dari middle eastern world? Habes tu nak jadi tanggungjawab sape lak nk dakwah kat diorang? Takkan nak dakwah bahasa Arab kat Japan kot? Nasib orang Islam kat sana mcm mana? Tak make sense la camtu. Remember, tuhan buat kita lain2 minat sbb ada la reason dia. Camne nk kasik org jepun tahu Islam tu camne kalau ko pot pet pot pet bahasa arab. Ye dak? Just pikir tanggungjawab masing2 and diam2 suda. Ahaks!

Quote yg aku slalu remind diri sendiri is, LIVE TO YOU OWN EXPECTATIONS, NOT OTHERS. It's your life, deal with it in your own way! Sekadar pesanan utk diri sendiri yek!

Mctyiere part 2, and some insight of J-Hall

11.10a.m, 12/10/2010, seperti tabiat biasa budak2 Uni yang takde kelas, gua bangun lambat arini. Agak jimbit di situ. Breakfast kat Mctyiere ni dia serve dari pukul 7a.m sampai 10 a.m, tapi sbb semalam tido lambat asyik facebook ngan blogging, gua hit the bunk pukul 4 pagi. So, naturally, gua bangun kol 10.31am la sbb badan memerlukan 6 jam 31 minit utk refresh (data dari Sleeping Studies, author: kepala hangguk Syaf). Ok, so, arini gua nak sambung sket entry semalam, pasal Mctyiere, kalau rasa bosan, bukak2 la facebook, stalk orang lain ke ape ke kan....

So, Mctyierites slalunya ada impression sendiri kat dorm ni. So, diorang ada macam2 cara nak illustrate dorm ni. Kitaorang "Japanese Hall" or "J-Hall" kalau nak lagi manja, ada cara sendiri nk illustrate menda alah ni. Tak berapa penting pon sebenarnya, saje nak carik alasan nk procrastinate belaja sbb final ada satu jek, kih3. So, ni illustration kitaorang yang sekarang ni terpampang megah kat dinding sebelah bilik aku:

Haaa.... Brown building kat belakang tu la Mctyiere, nape kitaorang add clock tower tinggi tu, jgn tanya, kitaorang tak tau. Saje menggedik mungkin? Kat depan tu ada arnab ramai2, sbb kitaorang J-Hall members ni merasakan diri kitaorang sgt cute dan adorable, so kitaorang illustrate diri sendiri ngan arnab. Baju biru tu ngan merah (kat arnab tido sebelah kiri) tu dipanggil Happi Coat. Baju ni famous sbb dia melambangkan Hall ni selain Kimono ngan Yukata.

Benda alah ni la yg dipanggil Happi Coat. Dia tutup aurat bahagian atas aje plus area Angry Bird sikit2, bawah korang kena la carik seuar panjang ke, suar pendek ke, skirt??? Tak kena okeh, so jgn buat malu kaum pakai menda alah ni ngan skirt ala2 sailormoon walaupun skirt camtu famous kat Jepun.

Orang jepun cukup bangga dgn coat ni sbb diorang rasa benda ni melambangkan rumpun diorang. Sbb tu dlm anime ke, dlm manga ke, x jadi issue la kalau korang jumpa coat ni. Kadang2 gak, org jepun ni terlalu creative atau terlalu bangga ngan coat ni sampai kat KFC pon diorang nk guna.

Colonel Kentaki in Happi Coat.

Anjing pun diorang kasik pakai. Nasib baik anjing ni jenis tak kesah, setakat casting nk berlakon Naruto tu anytime je kot

Lagi design pelik2 utk hanjeng anjing.

Ambek ko, abes benda diorang nk letak coat ni. Ahaks! Coat ni agak mahal la, last aku check kat Ebay dlm 40-50USD kot kalau dari Jepun. Yang utk anjing punya boleh cecah 300-400 USD. The HECKKKKK. Logik ke? Kalau takde duit byk takkan la boleh dia spend kat anjing punya baju kan? So logik la kot! Kalau dari China tu 4 USD sekilo je kot. So, kurang la best kat situ kan..... Gua mmg dah lama berkenan coat ni. Skrang ni kat bilik gua dah ada 2 kimono ngan 1 noren/のれん (cloth kat entrance tu). So, nak lengkapkan collection la. Ala, bukan benda mahal sampai ribu2 pun kan....

Ni la keadaan bilik gua. Ada 1 kimono kahwin (black) ngan satu lagi casual (patches2 ala2 polka dot tu). Benda alah kat luar tu plak nama dia Noren, sesuai utk buat lawa semasa menyambut tetamu or utk buat neighbour sebelah jeles bertalu2. Kih3. Aku dapat Noren ni masa pg Little Tokyo kat Los Angeles masa sophomore dulu. Masa Freshman aku pg gak, tapi tak terdetik plak kat hati nk angkat satu, balik2 sampai Vandy frust menonggeng sbb tak beli. Tapi masa tu tgh jahil2 lagi, tak kenal lg Mctyiere tu ape. So, beli la masa Sophomore kan... Janji tak terkilan.. Owh well... Nostalgic gak Sophomore year aku rupenyer

Ni la sikit2 rupa Mctyiere yg aku bley tunjuk setakat ni, tapi skrang kena pg mandi dulu nnt nk pg Smayang Jumaat. Lunch, pastu aku sambung balik okeh!

Jalan-jalan di Mctyiere International Hall

Sebab malam ni gua dah abes kena gulai kawah ngan exam Vibration, homework pon dah takde (buat2 takde actually), and bak kata sophomores yang seronok pangkah gua takde life, gua decide nak tulis entry pasal Mctyiere plak.

Utk orang2 Malaysia, Mctyiere tu bukanlah satu spesis biawak yg rare or sejenis kuda yg bisa main snuker, tapi dia ni sebuah dorm. Dorm Mctyiere ni was built especially utk orang yang nak belajar bahasa2 asing, ie: 2nd language ke, 3rd language ke, lantak korang lah. As for me, since sophomore, aku start kenal Mctyiere sbb minat ngan Jepun, and berminat nk belajar Japanese. Nak belajar masa skolah menengah tak logik la, sbb aku skolah harian, pengetua punya English pon terketar2, Japanese mmg tak nampak wajah la. Since then, somehow, gua rasa Mctyiere ni dorm paling awesome utk stay, sbb boleh kuar dari comfortable zone, bley blaja berdikari, bley belajar bahasa baru, blaja culture2 satu dunia yang berbeza beza and paling awesome, bley dapat kawan baru. Orang kata, kawan biar seribu, musuh biar takde. Especially plak, kalau kawan2 kita tu budak bukan dari rumpun yang sama, dari thousand miles away. Bond tu yang kita nak carik, sbb nanti bila2 travel mana2, ada je geng yg kenal, tak ke mesra alam camtu? Ye tak? (gaya nabil*, tangan kat bahu, mata pandang atas, geleng sket kepala)

So, dlm Mctyiere ni ada 7 hall alltogether.

1. Japanese
2. French
3. Russian
4. German
5. Italian
6. Chinese
7. International

Each Hall ada allocation of space sendiri. Ie: ada meja makan sendiri, ada location sendiri, and ada aktiviti2 sendiri. Senpai aku dulu ckp, kalau nak masuk Mctyiere kena ada Commitment... Alhamdullilah, skrang dah paham ape maksud dia. Every Monday-Thursday ada dinner from 6pm-7pm. Responsibility of a Mctyierite is to speak in the specified language for the whole hour masa dinner. In my case, gua kena cakap Japanese la. English is not allowed unless user nak tanya maksud yg dia tak tau sebut dlm Japanese. Well, that's besides the point kan... Sape2 yang ingkar rule ni, ie: tak cakap the language, cukup bulan akan ditendang keluar utk bagi spot kat orang yg betol2 nk belajar bahasa sbb space kat tempat ni agak limited. 78 orang je total if I'm not mistaken. Kat Japanese Hall ni ade satu reminder yang dibuat khusus utk orang2 degil ni.

Yang ni nama dia Batsu (punishment)

Yang ni pulak nama dia Maru (Correct)

Kalau orang tu cakap guna ayat bombastic lagi power, then kita just ambil benda alah ni kat tgh2 meja tu, and tunjuk Maru kat dia, sambil sebut "Tensai" (genius), "Beri gud" (japanese for very good), or "sugoi" (hebat/marvellous).

Kalau guna english/mexican atau lain2 bahasa yg terlarang. Korang just perlu terbalikkan maru tu kasik nampak Batsu, then ketuk kepala dia slowly or tayang depan muka dia camni

Tayang depan muke die, kasik padan muke sket!

Nak dipendekkan crite, dah almost 3 years gua kat sini. Dah macam2 benda dah lalui. Tapi biasa la kan, ni la asam garam kehidupan. Kalau byk sangat garam nnt kentut masin, kalau sikit sgt nnt cepat cramp kaki, so kena balance2 jek. Ok, lame... Balik pada crite, Japanese Hall ni, to me, ada sentimental value dia sendiri, bukan nk cakap aku sentimental, layan lagu jiwang2 tu mmg jauh skali, tapi to me, Hall ni agak seronok. Ahli2 dia pon byk yg gila2, awesome and tak malu nk buat apa2. Byk benda jugak la yg kitaorang as a hall buat, sampai tak bley recall kadang2. Antara benda paling awesome yg kitaorang buat are prank bilik hall lain dgn salotape door knob diorang ngan bilik opposite, tgk movie sama2 sampai 3-4 pagi, minum jem strawberry pastu tadah mulut kat luar masa snowing (mcm makan air batu campur la), masak sama2, lepak sama2, kuar mana2 bersama (tolong jgn samakan ngan outing MRSM, standed tu lain2). Pendek kata, benda2 pelik tapi awesome la.

Byk added value yang gua belajar kat sini. Antaranya, how to respect people, how to balance discipline, responsibility and emotion, how to be part of an organization and bla bla bla... Satu benda yang bley jumpa kat Mctyiere yg maybe takde kat Hall lain, is togetherness. Maybe dah macam jadi tradition kat sini, buat apa2 kat sini dah macam a big FAMILY :p . Orang2 Mctyiere pandai nak buat each other rasa belong kat sini. Antaranya, time birthday korang, korang akan diminta berdiri atas kerusi depan SEMUA ORANG kat Mctyiere masa dinner tadi. Then, diorang akan nyanyikan lagu Happy Birthday tu ramai2 sambil tepuk tangan. Takde la dapat hadiah, tapi the thought counts way better than gift no? Simple things macam ni yang make you feel appreciated and most importantly belong to something. Setakat duit tu aku pandang sebelah mata je kalau dpt layanan mcm ni hari2 kot. Tapi kalau nk bg 1 million USD tu, kita nego blakang2 okeh?

Ada banyak aktiviti kat Mctyiere ni actually, one of them is Study break. Study break atau nama popularnya Belajar Rehat ni ada sejam seminggu yang wajib. Yang sunat lak, kadang2 ada kadang2 takde, depending on commitee/Mctyiere budget punya decision. Yg wajib sejam seminggu tu ikut specific hall, in other words, Hall tu sendiri bertanggungjawab buat study break tu and semua orang is given the responsibility to do so. For instance, study break first gua yg buat, then next week, neighbour gua punya turn, then so on and so on. Macam2 la yang kitaorang buat utk study break ni. Masa gua punya turn aritu, gua host Batsu game (ばつガム) atau dlm BI, punishment game. Game yg gua buat dulu tu camni, ada 10 jus kat atas meja and 2 team, setiap team akan hantar wakil bergilir2, utk testing, while the other team akan pilih 1 jus. Blindfolded, the tester tu kena minum jus tadi and ingat rasa dia. Bila bukak blindfold tu, nnt dia kena carik balik jus yg dia minum tadi via minum jus2 atas meja one by one. Kalau orang tu dapat teka betul, or "ter"nasib baik terambil jus yg diminum tu awal2 skali, that person akan dapat puding as the present. TAPIIII, kalau kalah, orang tu kena makan seaweed kat bawah ni....

Mesti dalam kepala otak korang pikir, eleh, setakat seaweed ni, takde challenge pon kan? WRONGGG, sbb orang tu kena makan seaweed ni dengan

Mayo + Mustard + Tabasco  + Seaweed = ??

Bayangkan mayonnaise, mustard sauce, and tabasco sauce diletak skali kat seaweed tu. Agak2 korang, ape rasa dia? Toksah cakap byk, gua dah rasa, gua tibai 3 kali sbb salah teka 3 kali. Mmg malam tu berguling2 la, hak3. Ape2 pon, game ni aku rasa agak seronok and thrilling. So, kitaorang layan jek. Stock perut kereta kebal sorang2. Haih.....

Ni aku bawak jalan2 sket kat hall2 Mcytiere ni.

Chinese Hall overlooking the end of the hall

Chinese Hall random whiteboard scribble

Japanese Hall dinner table. Tempat kitaorang makan sambil practice Japanese!

French Hall who loves to "Frenchise" everything, kesian encik panda tersebut (~~")

Japanese Hall + Italian Hall

Encik monyet yang kena dera ngan French Hall

Tak lupa juga Cik Popo the French Leopard

Apparently, skill decorative org Russian Hall is just tambah mata 2 bijik kat peta, HEH!

Worm Factory! Apparently ada mat salleh sorang ni yg too enviromental friendly sampai nak bawak balik pet cacing dia masuk dorm (0_0").

Nama pet ni is "Bait" by the way. Aku yg kasik nama, ngeh3

Ok, now aku nk bawak korang tgk bilik2 diorang plak. Mcm yg kita biasa dgr, lain orang lain ragam, lain perangai. Orang putih lak cakap "People come from all walk of life". Jom kite ushar

Mamat ni nama dia Alex, boleh cakap English, German ngan Japanese. Jiran gua la senang crite, major Chem and jenis tak byk bergaul ngan orang, tapi time dinner datang sure on time. Very disciplined fellow :p

Minah ni plak nama dia Kai-Chan. Jenis senyap2 sket, tak cakap byk, tapi very nice person. Kalau nak makan omelette best pg la Rand Brunch Sunday sbb dia keje kat situ.

Kadang2 kita bley gak jumpa orang yg tak percaya kat tuhan, mcm minah ni. Nama glamor dia is "Atheist". Kadang2 rasa nk je sekeh sket kepala dia ni, tapi Nabi pesan dakwah biar bijaksana. Ahaks, byk bersabar yek!

Mamat ni plak, nama dia Sohei Tateno. Very awesome guy. Major in Mathematics. Setakat rubric (toy orang nerd tu) dia bley setel dlm seminit je. Blindfolded lak tu. Exam 100 memanjang, mmg power!

So, wrapping up, staying kat Mctyiere ni, mmg byk benda gua belajar, pasal kawan, budaya, ilmu, bahasa and macam2 lagi la, just name it. Bukan tu je, gua pon dah pandai bawak diri ngan orang lebih tua yg dtg dari bangsa2 yg berbeza. Experience is the one that differentiate a better adult than the rest. Personally, aku rasa benda ni susah nk dapat kalau kita asyik stay dalam bubble aje. So, fikir2kanlah yek

Owh, ni gua include kan gambar2 yg nnt gua agak2 bila dah tua nk tgk balik, insyaalah kalau umur panjang. Gambar2 yang byk bawak meaning kat diri ni. Orang kata masa tu la nak cerita kat anak cucu kan....Ye tak? Heee :p

Tekan lagu ni sambil2 tgk gambar2 kat bawah, baru best~~

Thanks guys for the AWESOME MEMORY! ;p

New blog, new resolution

Finally, dah update BLOG!!! selama ni blog cam sampah je, so wajarlah kot diberi nafas baru, harap2 pasni rajin update okeh? Encik ayah ngan cik mak kat rumah pon boleh la tumpang2 baca kalau bosan2 kan. Peace!

PS: Credit to cik Dillott sbb consult blog design :p

Kisah lama

Dulu-dulu masa aku kecik2, dlm 12 tahun kot, (kecik la sangat), ada la kawan ni crite sorang. Crite yg aku rasa agak epic la sbb situation tu agak takleh blah and tak boleh nk agak. Mr. A (bukan nama sebenar) tgh kuar jalan2 kat luar. Kalau tak silap aku, masa tu tahun baru, so ramai la kuar shopping, tak gitu? Unless, mcm perkara biasa budak2 remaja sekarang, tgh pokai sbb asyik belanja awek makan kat Pizza Hut.


So, nak dijadikan crite, Mr. A ni stuck kat traffic light kat simpang 4 ni. *rujuk ilustrasi di bawah. Tgh syok2 layan lagu rock kapak kat radio kat simpang 4 tu, tetibe je cuaca mendung.




Owh, lupe nk cakap, sbb aku asal terengganu, ada satu company bas nama dia "Thong Aik", kalau ikut kat tempat aku, company ni legend la sbb dah established since 1980s lagi. Masa tu aku pon belom lahir lagi, kih3. So, imagine la bas diorang yang dah ada in service since 1980s tu, tingkap tepi tu kalau nasib baik je ade, kalau takde tu perkara biasa dah. Asap plak stock berkepul2 penyumbang kanser paru paru ngan Green House Effect. Part best, driver dia ni apek cina sorang. Pakai cermin mata style kamen rider dulu2, singlet putih agak2 labuh sket dari pinggang, and of course complete ngan suar pendek ala2 nk pg mancing. Kalau suar tu zip tu kira nasib baik la, kalau ari tak baik tu, dia tarik singlet dia labuh2 sket kasik tutup Angry Bird dia. But that's besides the point.

Angry bird, versi sopan

Illustrasi artist terhadap encik apek

So, nak dijadikan crite, kat simpang 4 tu, Mr. A tu nampak bas Thong Aik ni sampai kat arah kanan. Biasa la kan, sbb traffic light merah, kena la tunggu sekijap. Tgh chill2 tu, hujan dah start la turun rintik2. Tiba2, Mr A nampak apek cina driver tadi turun bas tgh2 hujan tu. Takde tanda2 langsung beliau nak kuarkan payung ke, tukar poncho ke. "Aneh..." getus hati kecil Mr. A. Terkedek2, Mr A nampak si apek ni dok selongkar something kat tepi bas tu. Rupe-rupenya, dia kuarkan 2 objek hitam mcm dlm illustrasi seterusnya.



Bayangkan la, tgh2 hujan camtu, apek cina tersebut bawak 2 objek panjang hitam dlm 3-4 kaki panjang. Cuak la kan, ntah2 nak belasah org kes tensen gado ngan bini ke, pet anjing kesayangan dia mati kes cirit birit ke hape kan.

Dgn muka penuh semangat, encik apek berpaling kat depan bas, and tanpa segan silu , start gosok2 cermin bas ngan objek hitam tadi. Rupe rupenyer, wiper bas tu dah rosak.. Apek tadi tak nampak la nk driving sbb hujan, so sementara tunggu traffic light ni merah, dia transform jadi wiper manual.

Ilustrasi seterusnya cukup utk explain all the details. PEACE !

Sorry lukisan tak lawa, highest aku dpt masa subject pendidikan seni time skolah menengah dulu C+ aje, so paham2 sendiri la yek!

PS: TQ pak cik apek sbb tambah crite best dalam hidup gua, jasamu takkan gua lupakan, Ahaks!

Some thoughts, 166 days before graduation

It's been a while since I last wrote. These few weeks have been a tremendous relief, a relief to my life as senior. Many things have came around these days. From cabin break over Gatlinburg and to how I got "Syaf sophomore" as my new nick name. Haha. Well, placing those things aside, life is good, and I can't simply express how grateful I am. Senior year is not as hectic as before, many interesting things took place, as well those unprecedented stuffs in store. Owh well....

Overall, I would say the gatlinburg trip was decent. I remember the old days when I was a sophomore and junior, getting the chance spend every single fall and spring break together with the seniors and the super seniors. This time around, I'm the only senior and the rest are sophomores. Don't ask why, let's just consider it paying my gratitude to them seniors. Too bad, this was probably my last trip. I'm not sure myself if I could simply make it next time for snowboarding due to some unforeseen planning. I might make it again, but I might not. Hopefully yes though.

6 months left in the both Vandy and the States. I've been spending my days walking around the place, mostly midnight and early in the morning. Too bad, these couple of days are turning freezing cold. Well, a remedy to that is a walk with some hot choco in hand, too bad it'll just cool down just as quickly. Ok, let's switch to malay. Kadang2 terfikir jugak, whether nk sambung belajar, but then, tak rasa nk dah. Tired, tired and tired. I'm not sure if I am ready enough for the working environment. But that's when the excitement comes in mind, to meet new people, to travel around, to make things right, to make life more interesting.... Somehow, rasa macam malas nak balik.. Reason? I don't know... Maybe umur masih muda, I kinda wanted to meet more new people, to see the world myself, and to go around the world. Except of course, the same reason shared with everybody else. Encik Duit takde... Share market not as strong recently, US economy seems to be deteriorating, bad... and as if that's not bad enough, things are harder to calculate. Hopefully ada enough dough to face this final 6 months.

I remembered what Adeeb and Wira used to tell me. Every single story they shared. Sometimes, working world is not a sweet as you thought it may be. Life is not easy, and it'll never be. Only those who are strong willed will be able to survive. It's a man eat man and dog eat dog world out there. I guess that'w why Grad school exists. Exists solely for the purpose of providing those who's tired in the working environment a place to rebound for a couple more years. Honestly, I don't really wanna be an engineer... Why? Say you're an engineer for BMW, what is it likely that you'll be able to afford the car that you've invented, or designed... Sedangkan, some people out there who doesn't even know what sin pi is equal to, or know how to simplify some simple theorem, somehow managed to drive all those beemers that they could ever wanted. Life is hard, but to them, somehow, life is simple.

Life, is somehow easy, sort of like a breeze. It stroked me sometimes, whether am I really doing the right thing? Or because I'm following expectations? If so, whose expectations do they belong to? Am I following my own expectation? Are everybody else's expectations are far more important than my own? How do we even get caught in this dilemma in the first place? That's a question that I kept on reminding myself every single day. Life has no value, if you were to follow the expectations of others. Set your own goal, and trust yourself in making it a reality. (muhasabah diri sekejap)

A story worth reading, just a simple I LOVE YOU

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman
out to dinner and a movie. She said I love you but I know this other
woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has
been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three
children had made it impossible to visit her, only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.

"What's wrong, are you well," she asked? My mother is the type of
woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a
sign of bad news.

"I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you," I
responded. "Just the two of us."

She thought ! about it f or a moment, and then said, "I would like
that very much."

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit
nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed
to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on.
She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to
celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was
as radiant as an angel's.

"I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they
were impressed, "she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to
hear about our meeting".

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and
cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat
down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print.
Half way through the entries , I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting
there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

"It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small," she
said.

"Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor," I
responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing
extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each other's life.
We talked so much that we missed the movie.

As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out with you
again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.

"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home.

"Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened
so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her.

Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant
receipt from the same place mother and I had dined.

An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure
that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plate s - one
for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that
night meant for me. I love you, son."

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in
time: "I LOVE YOU!" and to give our loved ones the time that they
deserve. Nothing in life is more important than God and your family.
Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off
till "some other time