GOOD FRIDAY

GOOD FRIDAY.
IT WAS LOVE, NOT NAILS; THAT HELD JESUS TO THE CROSS.

JENNIFER, 5 YEARS

Jennifer was an advocate of living life; living it to the fullest. This is a gathering of just a very few photos of Jennifer and us, her family.

This is a glimpse of her life with her family. They are not in calendar sequence as time just became “present” all at once in her life with her passing.

Why very few? I used to take the mickey out of her when I would tell her, “There are no cameras that will ever escape you, even if they wanted to!” This was because she always insisted on having photographs taken for every little reason (or not).

Here, we are in a bit of a pickle: who cuts the cake first?

Sarah in full concentration, as she works at the monumental task of getting all those candles on both cakes, lit.

What is that sister of mine doing?

Two hands now, hold the knife steady. “You got this!” (I just had to say that. Wonder if “gotta” and “gonna” will be thrown into this essay for good measure).

This is how to cut the cake, izzit?

All the ladies of the Atkinson family.

The Atkinson connection.

At her 60th.

“Dei! Finally lah!”, Nigel was saying. That hand shaking in the air cannot be too dramatic. It has to be a sort of a slight cut in the air, followed by a spring- style reaction.

This is how it’s done. Learnt this trick from my father.

With the usual crowd: family.

At “Old Malaya” located in a row of houses, one of which mum and her family lived in for over 50 years. The house next to hers was where dad and his family lived when they moved down from Ipoh, Perak.

This was taken after one of the Star Trek movies – another family outing initiated by Jennifer. Place: the cinema at 1 Utama.

Ray’s 50th birthday, organized by Jennifer.

EPIC! This is definitely one for the album. Here, our cousins Leticia, Lavenia, Luvenia and Geraldine were with Jennifer and I. This picture was taken in the garden of our Section 5 house, us sitting on the flowerbed box, right outside the living room. On my 65th birthday last July, I went down memory lane , taking Jeannie and Laura on a short sightseeing trip of all the houses I lived in P.J.. This house remains almost unchanged when comparing to that visiting day and when this picture was taken over 60 years ago.

This was one of those Christmas shopping outings, organized by Jennifer. She motivated the Christmas spirit in us (further) when she believed it would be more Christmasy if us siblings, and our children did some Christmas shopping together.

With Aunty Val.

With Aunty Maureen.

With Aunty Maryjane and Uncle Ronnie.

With Uncle Al.

Dad’s 80th birthday.

And the mike goes to…

Dad and mum were the guests of honour and main audience. We, their children and grandchildren took to the stage.

This has to be a classic. Jennifer up to one of her plans. She was trying to push me to break out so that we could party all day and night long. After all, we were dressed for it.

At the Spanish Steps? No, St. Michael’s Catholic Church; Ipoh, Perak.

Dad’s & Mum’s 25th Wedding Anniversary.

Visiting the house that mum grew up in.

Sometime in the early 1970s

5 years…

INSPIRE OTHERS

NEVER FORGET HOW CAPABLE YOU ARE.

YOU ARE A LEADER IF YOUR ACTIONS INSPIRE OTHERS TO DREAM MORE, LEARN MORE, DO MORE AND BECOME MORE.

THE BEST WAY TO LIFT YOURSELF UP, IS TO LIFT UP SOMEONE ELSE.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

MAKE EVERY MOMENT BEAUTIFUL

DON’T CRY OVER THE PAST. IT’S GONE.
DON’T STRESS OVER THE FUTURE. IT HASN’T ARRIVED.
LIVE IN THE PRESENT.
MAKE EVERY MOMENT BEAUTIFUL;
FOR THERE IS NOTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL
THAN A PERSON WHO GOES OUT OF HIS WAY TO MAKE
LIFE BEAUTIFUL FOR OTHERS.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

THE ATKINSONS’ CHRISTMAS’ GATHERING THAT WAS

Not too long ago, more like a month or so; we i.e. Jeannie and I started with Christmas preparations. It was more Jeannie than me.

For starters, she put up Christmas trees, yes…plural in “tree”. Not one tree, not two trees, but three trees. There were decorations in various parts of the house that was put up earlier on.

Laura, her boyfriend, Praga; Jeannie and I had a nice pre-Christmas dinner at Chili’s. The food was good – we enjoyed it. I had a Margarita for the evening. It was kinda of o.k., could have been better. It was a good evening.

The next evening, we. meaning Laura, Praga, Jeannie and I; were at St Thomas More Church, Subang Jaya, for mass. We made sure we were early, especially to avoid a possible downpour of rain (it has been raining almost everyday. Reverend Father Simon La Brooy presided at mass. The time at church was wonderful.

One of the traditional events that we are involved in and participate is the gathering of siblings and their families at mum’s and dad’s home in Klang for dinner on Christmas evening. I think we have been doing this for as long as I can remember.

Notice the little lighted Christmas tree?

Shirley, Sarah and her boyfriend, King; were the first to arrive. We (Laura & Praga, Jeannie and myself) were the next to be at the scene. A few minutes later, everyone else started arriving.

There was a wide spread of food, including lamb and shepherd’s pie. We also had Christmas fruitcake flown in all the way from Canada, courtesy of Ray and Susan.

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Front row, right to left: Praga (Laura’s boyfriend), Laura (Jeannie’s and my daughter), Jeannie, Shirley, myself.
Middle row, seated; right to left: Susan (Raymond Arnold’s wife), Uma (Malcolm’s wife), Dad, Mum, Mabel (Terence’s wife), Sarah (Shirley’s daughter).
Third row, standing; right to left: Raymond Arnold (Behind Susan), Jay (Ashley’s husband), Ashley & Alana (both are Terence’s and Mabel’s daughters), Terence, Malcolm and King.

Malaysians – a must for their food.

The youngest and the eldest.

The youngest and the eldest of brothers.

The middle one.

The Three brothers👆

And the caroling began…

Christmas won’t be Christmas at the Atkinsons if there was no caroling. Malcolm and Jay took the lead. Everyone whipped out their phone song sheets. How convenient. No real flipping of paper pages unless you add the soundlike flipping of pages sound to your whatsapp thread when you search for song lyrics.

There was a mix of Christmas carols and non-Christmas carols – favourites.

Dad, recording with his smartphone. He’ s almost like Santa Clause. He knows who is singing in time and who isn’t. The proof is in the recording.

Everyone’s getting presents.


The singing goes on.

Christmas seemed a bit different this time round. It seemed brighter, with lots more laughter and joy. Yes, we are all slightly older this time round, probably wiser, too. Christmas with family is an integral part of our lives, I guess. We remember Jen and Nigel, who were with us in spirit; too.

Christmas with family…

A GIFT AND AN EXCHANGE

What is the difference between a “gift” and an “exchange”?

A “gift” is when you do everything with a good heart and expect nothing in return. You will never be disappointed.
An “exchange” is when you do things, even with the best of intentions and expect something in return.

Which do you think is better?

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

Alana, Personal Growth, March 10th, 2018

LIFE IS

LIFE IS NOT ABOUT BEING RICH, DEFINITELY NOT ABOUT BEING POPULAR.
LIFE IS NOT ABOUT BEING HIGHLY EDUCATED OR ABOUT BEING EDUCATED.

LIFE IS ABOUT BEING REAL.
LIFE IS ABOUT BEING HUMBLE.
LIFE IS ABOUT BEING KIND.

LIFE IS ABOUT BEING HAPPY WITH THE LITTLE THINGS WE HAVE. THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH NOTHING, YET STILL MANAGE TO SMILE.
THAT IS LIFE.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

Any More Bright Ideas?

The Sequel to “Keeping A Promise” http://leatherpotato.com/2023/10/25/keeping-a-promise/

Laura did it. She finally did. I made a pact that I would get one done if and when she got one done. And she finally did, a couple of days ago. So, now it was my turn. I wasn’t too thrilled about it.

I guess what kept me from getting one in my younger days (just so that you know, I am still young. Old is when you pass 120) is, I never saw the want or need to get one, let alone, use my whole body as a canvas for this “art”. Another major factor was that I was a regular platelets and blood donor until I reached the age of 60 years.

In the parlour. The modern description is now known as “studio”.

What once was the future, is now the present.

So, here I am, waiting to begin this new experience.

Yeah, I could have backed out. No pressure. Heck! That’s not me.

I decided on a picture of a lightbulb with the word “IDEA” on it to constantly remind me that all things are possible. From a thought, an idea emerges. It’s inspiration!😁

Soon, the tattooist, soon (pun not intended) came back with three sizes of the picture for me to choose from. I chose the smallest (yes, because there is less area to cover which translate into less pain) as it fitted nicely just above my wrist.

Marked for perfect placing with red dots, the picture was then transferred from the stencil (more like a decal) on to my hand.

I looked at the transferred picture on my hand and thought to myself that this was going to take longer than I expected. Couldn’t I have chosen a simpler picture? Perhaps an even smaller one? Looks like now was not the time to consider having two minds about going ahead with it.

Soon shaved off whatever hairs (if any) that I may have had on my wrist. Then he applied a thin gel (possible an antiseptic).

He was then, ready to proceed with what he called the artwork. He said the whole procedure would take 40 minutes. So, ya, let’s do it.

Then, he started. Who are the “they” who said it was not painful. It was a whole lot painful. Maybe, my wrist is a sensitive area to pain. I think I am sensitive to pain all over. 😅

My version of pain, taking it with a smile.

I started looking at my watch ever so often, to check how much longer of this 40 minute procedure was left. Oh! A minute has passed with 39 minutes to go. Before long, I was checking the time again. I tried to catch up on the latest news postings on the net, using my phone. However, there didn’t seem to be enough news that I was interested in, to fill the time.

I started video-ing the procedure. And, by jove; the time flew by quite quickly.

It was finished. That wasn’t too bad. In fact, not a prob. The work was really nice. I liked it. The yellow shine will show more prominently once the redness of my skin fades away, and the light (pun not intended) 😉scabs come off, with new skin to replace it.

Soon, the tattooist, is a pro; that is for sure. He explained the whole process, from getting the stencil done, to the choosing the right size, to making the transfer permanently. He then, explained what I was to expect immediately (within hours) after this, how to take care of it and keep it clean and dry over the next few days, and the other do’s and don’ts. He gave a sachet of Fougera Vitamin A + D ointment to apply in case of dry skin irritation. I was very impressed with him. He gave top notch service from the very moment I entered the studio, right up to the time I was leaving.

I am not sure why his contact that Laura forwarded me is “Soon – Rabbit Tattoo”. This studio, “Dr.Ink Tattoo Studio” is located in SS15, Subang Jaya. If any of you readers is in the market for a tattoo with first class treatment and from what I saw, a large, very well equipped tattoo studio; this could be the place for your next tattoo or if you are like me; your first tattoo.

What is my next idea? Check it out in my next article.

#bucket list