9) Anniversary outing and around Melbourne

Don't worry, Mya IS wearing a lifejacket under her pink Jacket!

Studley Park Boat House where George and I got married.

We had a ball at the Studley Park Boat House . I chose to go there because 12 years ago today, at exactly the same time, George and I were tying the knot. He couldn’t be here because he was on the way back to Singapore from China. Ha! Another Anniversary spent apart! It appears we make a habit of it. Over the years we’ve spent more Anniversaries apart, than together. I’ve made a lunch reservation at the Boat House for the end of the month when her returns to Australia.

Mya, Noor and I fed the ducks. I took Mya out on a row boat on the Yarra River and it was really a special mother and daughter time, especially visiting the duck nests and rowing under the huge walk bridge. We had an Aussie meat pie picnic in the car because Noor was cold.

Then we went to the city. We saw Chinatown where Mya shouted;” WOW!” when she saw the Chinese gateways. We went down past Parliament House, Federation Square where they were celebrating Vesak Day (Buddha’s birthday), past Flinders Street Station with its legendary clocks, up past the ANZ bank buildings where mum worked when she first came to Australia, onto Lonsdale Street to the Greek quarter, Victoria Market which was really alive with shoppers and buskers, Lygon Street and its Italian quarter... and then we finally came home.

My friend Sheila bought Mya a makeup set. At the ripe age of 5 ½ Mya was applying lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish. It was such a scream to watch. This child is going to have nothing left to experience!! But it was a lot of fun. She wasn’t going to eat her dinner tonight because she didn’t want to spoil her lipstick, and wouldn’t pick up the fork or take a bath in case her nail polish became smudged. It was hysterical. I did make sure I sorted her out on all those issues.

Tonight, Mya, Noor, Mum and I played cards. It was an exercise in patience. Then we put on the video of today’s outing to the Boat House. Mum’s face just lit up as if she’d been on the outing herself. She thoroughly enjoyed experiencing our outing on video.

Of course she couldn’t come with us today, because she is far too frail. But this didn't stop the stream of visitors and phone calls. She is beginning to find all of this quite tiring. Soon we will have to ask people to make their visits no more than ½ an hour. As the doctor said, she needs to conserve her energy. She occasionally looks really well, but she also has periods of very short breath and frailty. Given that she has both cancer and pneumonia , we are very lucky that she has no pain and no coughing fits. Most people cannot believe that she is so ill.