buter's BABY blog

Yep, as you know by now, I'm heading to Melbourne to see the family and catch up with everyone. It's a bit of a sad time as we are going to farewell the patriarch of the Yu family, my Grandfather.

The last time I saw my Grandfather was September 2004, when most of the clan headed off to Hong Kong for his 90th birthday. Most of us stayed at the Miramar Hotel - although there was also a contingent who squished into the family flat on the 12th floor of 72 Nathan Rd. DTM and I went for about a week and saw some sights, played at Ocean Park, did some shopping, and of course had a bit to do with the big party.

And when I say big - there were over a hundred people at Grandfather's birthday celebrations - family aside, he had a lot to do with the business community of Hong Kong. What was amazing was that throughout all the preparations, Grandfather seemed to be essentially dozing - but when the time came he gave a speech ex tempore which had all these high-level hard nosed Hong Kong corporate types blinking back the tears. I don't understand Cantonese but the gist (as told to me afterwards by my aunt) was that he was talking about how Hong Kong had changed and what things he thought were good and what he thought about the future of business in Hong Kong.

So 4 generations of Yus are gathering in Melbourne over the next few days, together with representatives of the massively extended family - yes, we expect it will be huge, though not quite as huge nor as rowdy as the last time we all got together. It's times like these that you really appreciate family. The Yu family, though scattered round the globe, is still close in spirit and I'm so glad we are all coming together at this time. It's time to say farewell to our beloved father/grandfather/great-grandfather figure. I hope we have made him proud of what his family has become.

Remember to stop and smell the roses, people. Life ends, for all of us. You have to appreciate what you have in front of you right now.