Ice cream

For the last two weeks, the best moment of every meal for mum comes  at the end. "I want ice cream," she would say, and joke that she has become a big kid whining for cold ice cream. It's soothing for her throat, and because of the coldness, she somehow does not feel any much pain when swallowing.

So, after every meal, mum gets her treat. Almond milk, chocolate and vanilla, green tea, red bean, sesame, coconut. All kinds of different flavours, and even if she cannot finish everything on her plate, she always manages to finish her bowl or cone of ice cream. She doesn't care about calories any more, she said, as long as she can eat, anything that she enjoys or would suddenly have a craving for, she just eats it.

The past two days, my sister-in-law came to stay over, and every night we would go out for ice cream and sit around and chat. We get along fine together, and get very excited talking about life in Europe, and plans to meet up there later in the Summer. With the baby expected at the end of August, much of the talk hovers around what to be aware of before and after giving birth. On both their faces, I can see the wonderful joy and hopes. It soothes mum's pain and frustrations, as much as eating ice cream does.