Let there be sound!

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I've been wanting to buy mum a new hi-fi system since her old one has become almost inoperable after just three, four years. It's the "curse" of living on a tropical island with high humidity, and being where our house is there is an added "curse" of being right at the foothills of volcanoes that emit sulphuric gases, which can get into electronic systems and erode electronic circuits.

Every time I say I want to take her to see a sound system, she says "later" or "some other day". But in her state of health, it's very unlikely she'll be able to go anywhere far, let alone be able to walk around the stores and compare prices. So yesterday I went for my evening "time alone" walk and went into two stores to look at hifi systems.

Like me, mum detests anything "Made in China", so there are (sadly) not many options. Even renowned and trusted brands like Sony have downgraded their products to be made in the "bad country"... There are however two devices, both by JVC, which are made in Malaysia, though the price tag is a bit steeper. That's the price you pay for being politically conscious in your purchases, and it's something I rarely compromise on (sometimes there's just no other choice!) So I took some brochures and came home to show mum and see which one she likes more, with the plan of buying one one of these days.

She looked the brochures for a while, then weakly said: "I may not have use for it for long..." she whispered, "Take... take it with you to Canada after I am gone."

I hid the pain of hearing those words with a smile. "nonsense! Don't talk like that!". But I knew why she was talking like that. Deep down, I knew and feared that kind of talk, because it's uncomfortably close to the truth, to reality.

One day when mum has gone, all the things I bought for her or am still planning to get her will be left behind...

And left behind will be memories of how I've tried to make the final leg of her journey as comfortable and carefree as possible. Both the material things and memories will be mine to keep. But only the memories of all that is happening in this difficult and testing period and memories of my sweet, little gestures and attempts to make mum happy will be mine to keep forever and forever...