The Proudest Moment in My Life

Livingsword tagged me to do this meme. When I first went to his site to find out about it, I gasped. In accordance to what he wrote in his post, I've been debating over writing this particular post as I don't want to sound like I'm bragging about myself. But anyway, let me just let you decide on what you get from this post of mine.

I had been writing a kind of journal ever since I was in High School. I continued writing that journal until I studied at the university. When I was at the uni, I wrote a long list of dreams/goals to achieve. One of those dreams was to send my parents abroad for a vacation. Mind you that when I wrote those dreams, I had NO idea when I would be able to achieve them. I just knew I wanted to do all those things, but I didn't have a specific target yet. However, I had this determination that I would NEVER let go of my dreams until the day I died. If some of them weren't fulfilled by then, so be it.

Anyway, I started working part-time when I was studying at the uni, so after graduation, I had enough money to go to Singapore with my Aussie emailpal. Then I started working full-time and I started saving money to go to Finland. After my trip to Finland in 2004, I set another goal for myself, which was sending my parents off to Singapore in March 2005. I had enjoyed my time IMMENSELY when I was in Singapore and I thought that my parents would love to visit that country, as well. Plus I thought it would be affordable for me to send them off to Singapore.

While saving money for this vacation, something miraculous happened. My uncle called and said that he wanted to transfer some money to me. So he did...and the amount of money was half the money I needed to save. Imagine my feeling! It was as if God had told me, "Let Me help you!" I felt SO blessed and encouraged!!! ;-D Honestly speaking, I was a bit worried whether or not I could save as much money as I wanted to before the time came...I knew I could save enough, but I still wanted to give them more spending money than they needed so that if they wanted to buy something there, they wouldn't have to be too "stingy", you know what I mean? I wanted them to have the freedom to taste this and that and to try this and that. And with the money given by my uncle, I had total freedom to give them more money than I thought I could provide them for the 5-day trip to Singapore.

I decided not to go with them as that would cost more. Plus I wanted them to have an adventure. In the end my Dad's cousin came with them (she is the same age as my Dad). She took a trip to Singapore and Malaysia once with a travel agent, but she didn't feel satisfied enough. My Dad's cousin can speak Mandarin, so I knew she'd be able to help out. My parents can speak a bit English, but they're not really fluent. But I knew that there would be lots of Indonesians in Singapore, so they would be fine he he he he...But for precaution, I bought them a pocket Indonesian-English-Indonesian dictionary and I had printed out some survival phrases and questions.

I helped them book some day tours online, as well. I also had fun shopping for clothes and shoes with Mom he he he he he...After they applied for passports and I exchanged the money to Singaporean dollars, everything was ready. I had a big suitcase already, so they only needed to pack. Mom left some frozen food for us to make sure we had something to eat on the first and second day he he he...

Five days went by and finally they came back home. I was SO HAPPY to listen to their tales of adventure. Mom gave me back the rest of the money. I knew they wouldn't use all of the money, but still it made me feel good that I could give more than they needed (with God's miraculous help!!!). Then of course Mom kept on telling her tales of adventures to her siblings and anyone she knew he he he he...

What made me feel SO proud was to make my parents feel proud to have me as a daughter (so that they felt that my existence in the world was worth it)...I'm GLAD I could send them off for a vacation when they were still very healthy. Because half a year or so after that, Mom began to feel major pain on her knee and back and there was one time when she couldn't even walk at all. After going to different doctors and undergoing some physiotherapy, finally we found out that Mom needed to take supplements as her joints didn't have enough "oil" anymore. So she's been taking glucosamine and chondroitin and MSM supplement and gladly she's now feeling 90% well. ;-D So looking back, you can imagine how RELIEVED I was since my Mom could walk about without pain when she was in Singapore. Phew!!! And I'm just happy to be able to give them some memorable memories that they wouldn't forget. ;-D

I'll always cherish the memories of listening to my Mom's funny stories from her vacation in Singapore. And Dad was also excited whenever he told me stories about it he he he...Sometimes I think God gives us some wishes for a reason, and it feels AWESOME whenever He gives us signs that He does want us to do those things and that He does help us in making them come true. ;-D

Here are a list of people who've done the tag:

1. Ehon's proudest moment is when he swept 5 out of 6 trophies at a State First Aid Competition.
2. Everyday Healy proudest moment is when she gave birth to Elizabeth.
3. Trinity's proudest moments are when she took a commitment to be married and also when she breastfed her babies.
4. Livingsword

Oooopppsss...I forgot to tag other people he he he...So here are those people I'd love to tag:

Blur Ting
Water Learner
Sindi
Kathy
Mother Hen
Fish Without Bicycle