Diana had gotten married and moved out. This chest of drawers was from Ikea and I bought it after I had started working for a few years. Some years later, I got married and there's a photo of this chest of drawers in one of my wedding photos.
I gave Mummy and Daddy a framed sepia photo to keep. And keep they did. Right until Daddy passed away a year ago.
After I moved out of Begonia Drive, this chest of drawers was moved to Mummy and Daddy's room and they used it. Taking pride of place was that framed sepia photo. Every time I went to their room, it was there.
After Mummy passed away, nothing really changed as far as that photo and the chest of drawers were concerned. Daddy kept them as they were. Soon after Mummy passed away, Daddy was also diagnosed with dementia too. But that photo stayed and never went away.
Daddy passed away rather suddenly a year ago - just 2 months before I was to relocate back from Hong Kong for good. Since our new flat was not ready yet, we moved into Daddy's room - which was large enough for the four of us.
So the chest of drawers was mine to use again. This time, I had my boys and the chest of drawers were used by them. In one of the drawers were all the birthday cards and red packets that Daddy received for his 80th birthday, just a little more than a year ago. I clearly remember opening his ang pows and birthday cards and letting him know who they were from.
Although he was tired after his big birthday bash, we chatted for a long time about his younger days when he had finished his studies at RI. He had talked about how he had applied to work for Guthrie but eventually ended up working at Shell - where he worked for more than 30 years until he retired.
It would have been more than 25 years since I first bought the chest of drawers. And that framed sepia photo is still in the room, where Daddy had left it.
So it's come full circle. And tomorrow I will be leaving it behind again, in Mummy and Daddy's room, as I move to my new place just a short walk away. It had been my wish to live near Daddy so that I could spend more time with him in his final years. But that is not meant to be. I missed the opportunity with Mummy and now, Daddy too.
They are with me in spirit and my wedding photo and their photos will move with me - to my new home, sans the chest of drawers.
