Christmas Eve
It was December 24th.
Dad's birthday ...
And yours.
We arrived in Phuket and took a van to the hotel.
It was late in the evening when we finally arrived at the hotel. Almost 7 pm, if Mom remembers correctly. It was Dad's birthday. We had to get a cake. She was on the look out for a bakery or cake shop all along the way from the airport to the hotel, but she did not see any of such shop.
We must have a birthday cake.
It's Dad's birthday.
And yours.
And it's Christmas Eve ... the eve of Jesus' birthday.
We had made reservations for 4 rooms.
One for Amah and Aunty C.
One for Aunty Diana and family.
One for Aunty Jessie and hubby.
And one for ourselves.
The hotel girl at the reception gave us our rooms on the same floor, nearby one another.
"Megan likes to visit ..." said Aunty Jessie.
By the way, at the point of writing, a cook show is on telly, and the host just said, "Congratulations Danielle ..."
Danielle ...
CoinciDANS???
But of course.
You're connecting with Mom, she knows.
She's hearing the name being repeated several times now. :D
So anyway ...
Dad, Mom and Justine were in our hotel room, when Aunty Jessie came over and said, "Hey, someone delivered a cake to our room ... Did you order a cake?"
Huh?
Aunty J repeated, "Did you order a cake?"
Of course not.
We soon found out that the hotel left us a Christmas / celebratory item in each of our rooms.
Omgosh ...
Happy birthday, Dad ... :D
Mom heard You.
Omg ...
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| The surprise gifts in our hotel rooms. |
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| Woah. Quality chocolates. |
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| Christmas Cookies. |
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| Red wine, anyone? |
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| A chocolate cake! |
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| Rich creamy chocolate ... :D |
Mom was speechless for a moment before she burst out, "Oh my gosh, we've been looking for a cake for Bryan ... and here it is. We have 4 items to celebrate his birthday with. Omg ..."
What a coinciDANS.
You planned this, didn't You, Son?
All of a sudden, she was too aware of the air-conned setting.
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| 24??? You're with us, for sure. And Amen? Ah yes, Amen. |
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| Mom noticed the 1234 ... <3 ZAP ZAP ZAP! |
Two zaps from the air conditioner.
You're with us, Mom knows. :D
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| Guess what everyone's getting for Christmas? |
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| We took the chocolates, the cake and the wine with us to dinner. |
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| Dad's birthday dinner. :D |
There was a man entertaining the patrons with songs in the background.
He didn't have that good a voice, we noticed.
Chuckle.
Just as our food was being served, the introduction of the next song made your mother hold her breath.
Literally.
The time was 8:31 pm.
Decode : 21
Omg ...
Seriously?
Mom sat very still in her chair for a few seconds before turning to Dad to whisper, "Omg, do you hear that? When you say nothing at all. It's 8:31 ... that's twenty-one ... Son's definitely saying, Happy Birthday Dad."
Dad nodded and smiled, "Happy birthday, Son ..."
Mom listened and hummed under her breath as she watched the dishes being brought to the table, one by one.
It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, You can light up the dark
Try as I may, I can never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing
The smile on your face lets me know that you're near me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hands say you'll catch me
Whenever I fall
You say it best, when You say nothing at all
Mom had to smile.
Yes Son, You say it best, when You say nothing at all. :D
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| Cheers to Bryan and Daniel. Many happy returns of the day. :D |
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| Smile, people! :D |
We enjoyed our dinner very much.
At the end of the dinner, the waiter appeared with a tray of local fruits, and said,
"This is free ..."
Say what?
FREE???
OMG ...
ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!
Just so You know, your FREE pink tee shirt is hanging in Mom's wardrobe.
Grimace.
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Mom leaned over to Dad and said, "You see children? They don't have to speak ... but they can make a connection ..."
Right after Mom finished her sentence, Dad and Mom watched Megan and her new friend pointing their umbrellas to touch each other's.
Mom pounced, "You see? They're making a connection ..."
Like You.
Then, another waiter appeared and gave the two girls a banana each.
Pause.
Oh wow.
Bananas.
ZAP ZAP ZAP.
That was your last fruit, and last food, that You had before You left us the next day.
Mom watched silently.
Sniff.
There was a heavy ache in her heart.
If only You were still with us, Daniel.
If only ... Mom will always have that line in her head and heart, Son.
Permanently engraved in her.
Like forever.
That line.
If only You were still with us, Daniel.
A voice interrupted her thoughts as she felt a flash of enlightening that told her that,
"But I'm here, Ma ... I'm right here ..."
Mom hears You.
Truly, You say it best when You say nothing at all.
How she is able to hear and see so much more, she will never understand.
Ah, but she gets the message.
The connection.
The ZAP.
ZAP.
ZAP.
From where the little girls were sitting, Mom suddenly noticed the statue of a lion on the right. Behind the TV screen.
Oh my goodness.
You've gotta be kidding.
A lion?
Seriously? What are the chances?
No chance.
Omgosh.
On our way to the airport from home (Dec 22, 2 days ago then), Aunty Carol had sent the family a text (we were travelling in two separate cabs) with a photo of a cloud.
Aunty C's sms : What do u see?
Mom looked at the image and replied : boy waving
(only You will know that she had wanted to say, "Daniel is waving.")
Aunty C replied : looks like a lion on 2 legs.
Huh? A lion? Mom had thought. Far from it. It's Daniel waving.
That sms was soon forgotten ...
... until she saw the lion.
Oh gosh, what are the chances?
Mom said to Dad, "He must have picked this place for you ..."
Clearly, that was what happened.
That moment had felt surreal. Think about it. The two umbrellas making a connection ... the bananas ... and the lion. It was so obvious that You were / are with us.
All the time, Mom knows.
You must have planned it all, for sure. From the cake to the chocs to the wine and the Christmas cookies ... and a nice place for Dad for his birthday dinner ... where we could feel your presence.
Yeah, the lion was the -- anchor. :D
Thank you, Son. And how did You celebrate your birthday up there? With Jesus and Mama Mary and all the angels. What it must be like to have a celebration in God's house, Son. Someday we're all gonna be together again, celebrating together.
That's God's promise and your mother is holding Him to that.
After dinner, Uncle Craig suggested we hang out at a rock cafe. Dad asked Mom whether she wanted to go, and she surprised herself by saying, YES. It was after all, Dad's birthday ... Yeah, we should all go celebrated.
The night is still young.
Before we knew it, we found ourselves in Rock City. Uncle Craig used to play in a band and had long, hippy hair, and so we're thinking, he wanted to re-live those moments. :D
In the pub, we were led to the first floor, over-looking the stage.
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| Justine posing at the entrance. |
Oh boy, You're so not gonna believe this.
Where we were sitting / standing, Mom suddenly spotted the banner
JACK DANIELS on her right.
Dad saw it too.
Dad said, "Son must have brought You here because I didn't think you'd want to come here after dinner ... Not like you to want to hang out here ..."
Yes Son, You must have whispered to Mom.
Go wherever they take you, Ma ... :D
Grin.
Aww Son, You're really with us all the way, aren't You?
Mom was snapping a photo of the Jack Daniels' banner when she suddenly spotted JASON at the back of the banner.
Omg.
Excitedly, she burst out to Dad and Justine.
The music was loud, she had to shout anyway.
Omg. What are the chances??
DANIEL JASON???
Seriously???
Like --- SERIOUSLY ???
ZAP ZAP ZAP.
Oh Lord ... You truly take my breath away. How could this happen unless You allow it? Thank You, Jesus for the resurrection. No way this could have happened unless it was meant to be. Mom wasn't even supposed to be there ... but she was -- led ....
Oh, by the way, all the rock songs were a bit weird for her until, yes until, the guy sang
LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.
That did it.
When that song came on, she had in fact got up from her stool, voluntarily, some might say -- uh, possessed -- and started to head bang a little.
Grin.
Dad was quite shocked to be honest, but Mom didn't care. The whole evening had been surreal. She danced away like she was being -- um -- electrocuted.
Hahaha.
Yeah, your mother.
Were You shaking your head?
Aunty Jessie said to the family, "Ah, that's Chare-Chare's generation ..."
(Chare = sister)
Livin' On A Prayer ...
Who would have thought ... Truly, she's livin' on a prayer ... You might say.
So anyway, here's a video of Bon Jovi singing LIVIN' ON A PRAYER with Taylor Swift and Prince William. Now, the first video is suitable for You to view. It's clean and um, wholesome. Mom's sure Mama Mary will approve. :D
Bon Jovi with Taylor Swift and Prince William
The second video is more for You to hear the song, as it should be. :D
At the point of writing here, the cleaner called Mom to the guest room, to ask where she should keep the books (that are on the floor). We're trying to clear some of our very old books to make space for not that old books. Mom picked up some of your JOKE books, your Calvin & Hobbs, and then ...
Gasp!!!
Omg ...
The LION zap.
Truly, You planned the dinner that night of Dad's birthday.
Slow Ma, slow ...
Mom had kept wondering what connection the LION has with You, and only now, she sees the picture. Yes, Daniel in the lion's den. We read that story a few times, didn't we? And that was how Mom believed that God would have shut the mouths of those naughty cells ... and not allow them to hurt You.
Gosh Daniel, we did not see that connection at all.
Lion ...
Not Justine.
Not Dad.
Anyway, going back to the photos, here are some more taken at the rock cafe.
The waitress showed her annoyance when Aunty C ordered -- water.
Hahaha.
Here's the guy -- he can actually scream quite well -- reminds us of Adam Lambert.
Some people are just born to -- scream their lungs out.
See the bald guitarist on the right?
So at one point, that bald guy took off his shirt.
Eeeeeeeeee!!!
Boooooooooo!!!
Thumbs down down down.
That came from your Mom.
It was time to go.
Justine called out to Mom and signalled her to go over.
She showed Mom a photo in her cell.
It was of You in the park, and making a monster face and action.
From Justine's cell.
Oh my.
"Your brother is definitely with us, Jus ..." Mom said as she looked at the photo.
"What made you think of this photo?" Mom asked.
Your sister replied, "I happened to be scrolling through my photo gallery ..."
On that day?
That time?
That moment?
That was a clear "Hi Jus ..." all the way from heaven.
Dad said You were mimicking the --- gorilla --- that appeared from nowhere in a horror ride in Disneyland (or Universal Studios).
By the way, Son, Aunty J sent a video (http://youtu.be/MNCzSfv4hX8) at 11:06 am with the message,
"Those powerful lions ... wow .. simply magnificent."
That was about the same time Mom stumbled upon the Daniel in the Lion's Den book. She had heard her phone beeped but did not check the text until now. Oh gosh. Unbelievable.
Lions???
11:06 ???
Decode : 44
Oh gosh.
ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!
