Plea

"Can I go travel again...?" she said, with such hope and desperation, "[I] so much want to go travel again..."

Mum was telling me about this travel show she was watching, which was on Barcelona, a place where she came to visit me while I was doing a summer course there back in 2008. It was her first trip after dad passed away, and particularly memorable. For her, it was the Gaudi architecture that was inspiring, and the food that was so varied, colourful and tasty. She recounted restaurants we visited, including this one which we found out only when we were about to leave happened to be a Michellin star restaurant. "Such beautiful memories..." she said, and excitedly talked about how she and her friends used to travel to Europe every other year, taking different routes and exploring different parts of the continent by train.

Then she expressed her wish to travel again... As much as I hope she can do that, the reality may be different now because of her condition. As much as I would love to show her more of the world, or revisit memorable places with her, deep down perhaps she knows too that it will be a difficult challenge...


Still, I told her, we can go somewhere when she has finished the current treatment. But deep down inside, it felt like I was telling a lie to placate her, a lie you tell to a little child because you don't want to go into the details of why it is that certain things cannot be done, just to make her feel better, even though taking her away from the hospital, appointments, doctors and needles is something I would give anything in the world for...