Shelter from the Storm

Dearest Little Girl,

Today, we had yet another birthday celebration for you. This wraps up your 1st birthday celebrations. :) The reason this celebration was so delayed was because Aunty Candy was away on holiday and had only just returned to Singapore.

We had arranged to meet Aunty Janet and Aunty Candy at Raffles City at 2pm today, but it had been raining continuously from about 2 days before. Mama had warned Aunty Janet that if the torrential rain did not let up, we may have to take a rain check. It had been raining kitty cats and doggie dogs for a while now, and some areas in Singapore are even flooded. Mama didn’t want you to catch a chill in the storm.

So the whole morning, Mama and Aunty Janet monitored the weather. Sadly, the rain continued relentlessly all of today! But we were all looking forward to meeting each other, so Mama got you all dressed up and ready to go, then we waited for an opportuned moment, when the rain slowed down a little, and dashed out of the house. The winds were quite strong and it was still pouring quite heavily, but with your stroller rain cover, you remained quite dry. Mama, on the hand, was all wet by the time we crossed the road to get to the MRT station!

Still, we made it to Raffles City, to your birthday celebration with Aunty Janet and Aunty Candy. We had tea at a nice little place in the basement of Raffles City. It’s a new healthy food café with lush cushy chairs that face a fountain with playful jets of water dancing about.

You had such a good time watching the fountain and, of course, you enjoyed playing with the new rabbit and Cookie Monster toys that Aunty Janet and Aunty Candy gave you.

Before dinner, Auntie Janet had to go for a Sunday School teachers meeting, so we all parted ways. Papa then picked us up and we went to Borders for a walk.

Marks and Spencer at Wheelock Place was having a sale and Papa and Mama bought so many new books and toys for you at a discount. You had a great time walking around the store too! :)

When we returned home in the evening, it was still storming. As we made our way back to our block from the carpark, rain was beating into the void deck because of the strong wind. Papa hugged you so tightly as he carried you back home. Snug in Papa’s strong arms, you got home all warm and dry.

Seeing Papa protect you in the storm reminded Mama of one of our first dates. On Christmas Eve, 24th Christmas 1992, Papa and Mama were sharing a tub of Haagen Daz “Cookies and Cream” ice-cream when it started to pour. The storm didn’t end but Papa had to go for Midnight Eucharist with Grandma, so Papa and Mama had to make our way to the bus-stop in the storm. It was raining SO heavily, yet Papa held the umbrella so carefully over Mama that Mama was quite dry all the way… until we got to the road. That was when a car drove by and splashed Papa and Mama with a huge spray of water! We were drenched after that, but we laughed and laughed because of the irony of the situation – Papa had kept Mama dry all the way and we got soaked through just before we made it to the bus-stop.

Seeing Papa protect you in the storm also made Mama feel all warm and fuzzy inside because Mama knows that Papa will always love and protect you, just like he will always love and protect Mama.

Papa and Mama love you, Little One!