Baby years

29 years, 9 months, and 16 days ago, I was born into this world. It was 4am in the morning, or in the more traditional Lunar Calendar, 庚申年九月十五日寅时. Of course I wouldn't remember much, the early days of my life. A lot of it will be based on accounts of my Mom, my grandma, and other loved ones.

I happened to be born on the day of 霜降, a day when the fall air meets the winter freeze. Despite the harsh weather, I went home the following day cloaked in a brand-new hand-made down jacket. The one of a kind, that Grandma stayed up all night to make for me.

It was funny that I was told by Grandma several times later that my dad was not very happy with me being a girl, so that when he came back from the hospital, his steps on the stair resonate with great disappointment.

I spent the rest of my memory-less days at grandma's, because Mom and Dad's apartment was simply too small for me. Grandpa's health started deteriorating some time after I was born, but he still helped diligently with washing the diapers. One anecdote about Grandpa is that he loves to boast about my weight to other people, even during his last days at the hospital. "My granddaughter weights like a bag of flour!" he would proudly tell the guy at the next bed, left him clueless but much intrigued of this fat granddaughter of his.

Grandpa passed away someday in the winter, without my recollection. I couldn't even recall his face, except from his early pictures. But there should be no doubt, that there must exist those moments when I looked into his eyes, saw his smile and felt the warmth of his palms...

So there goes my early days, not much memory but certainly much much love...

Prologue

After watching “Julie & Julia” last night, it suddenly dawned on me that the days left while I am still in my 20s are dwindling to a mere couple of month…and what shall I do to celebrate my 20s, so they don’t just slide away like any other days?

So, one idea leaps to mind, is writing a memoir of the past 29 years of my life. Somehow, I feel, it will help me to better understand myself, and also project a clearer picture of my future. It will be a challenge: starting from 8/8/10 to 10/23/10, 77 days, and 29 years of my life to go.

With a full time job, a boy friend, and possibly another CFA exam to prepare, and the big brother big sister volunteer thing, I think this challenge should be manageable. I will basically set aside one hour everyday to devote to this project, that is 77 hours, 4620 minutes, hopefully I can do my life justice, not just reliving it, but also glean anything that I have failed to recognize as I was busy living my life.