The Prodigal Son

You know, I've been finding it real hard to get into the Christmas spirit. Slowly but surely I was succeeding in find a little of that lost spirit but this evening I heard something from my mom that kinda made me lose whatever little spirit I had found.

There I was in the midst of cooking my dinner when all of a sudden my mom comes into the kitchen and tell me she and my cousins were in Klang (a township not far away from where I live) and they happen to see my uncle walking on the streets going god knows where. Now that sounds normal enough, right?

Well, she then told me that he was wearing a torn t-shirt and a pants that was also torn but patched up in so many places that he resembled a beggar! They were shocked to say the least and they stopped to ask him where he was going. They were seriously taken aback by his outlook.

I'm getting a little too ahead of myself. Let me back track a little so you'll get a clearer picture of all this. Some of you, my long time readers would probably remember that I spoke about a cousin of my who delved into the world of drug addiction.

This guy is the only son of my uncle. He's been in and out of this drug business and I thought he finally got his act together. The last I heard, which was quite a while back, was that he was working in a hypermarket or something. Well, good for him, I thought. At least it'll lift the burden his parents has to shoulder. At least he's being responsible again. And by the way, he in his 30's.

Back to present day story. They stopped and asked him where he was going and why was he walking by the main road in the middle of the day. I don't really remember where my mom said he was going but that he didn't have money to take a bus! I felt my heart drop at those words.

Didn't have the money to take a bus? My god! My mom and my cousins asked him what happened to his son? How come he isn't taking care of you. That's when he told them that the useless bum quit his job and just sits at home and expects him (the father) to magically get money!

he looked kinda pale and weak and they asked him if he had eaten and he said no. So they took him and bought him some food. One of my other cousins wanted to go over to his house and bash up my useless bum of a cousin for being such a jerk and making his dad, which is close to 60 plus if I'm not wrong work while he sits at home shaking his legs! Unfortunately (or fortunately) he wasn't in.

The way she described how my uncle was dressed, with a torn t-shirt and pants, walking like a vagrant in the streets made me feel so awful. I mean I grew up and stayed with this uncle for god knows how many years and to know the condition he is in makes me sick to the core. The last I saw him, which was quite a while back, things looked fine.

I really don't know the entire story of why my cousin quit his job but knowing him, he's just too bloody lazy and is probably back into his drug taking ways. I really do not understand him. Everyone has tried their best to help him overcome his drug ways and help him get back on his feet and at one time he was doing good.

He had a job and had dreams and ambitions. Got married, had a kid, wanted to get a car but now suddenly he's back to square one. And he's the only child at that. How can he even put his dad through such hardship, god alone knows. I wonder what went wrong. Maybe I should recommend him some Philadelphia jobs.

I'm not rich and cannot give my mom a lot of things but at least I make sure she has a house to stay in and food to eat and not worry about having to pay rental and stuff like that. His dad is old and sickly and now works as a security guard in a church and not getting much and he has to pay the house rent, utilities and whatnots. How can someone deteriorate so much? How can someone even do something like that to ones own parents?

I was cooking a nice dinner for myself when my mom told me this and after hearing the story, I lost my appetite. There I was going to stuff my face with something nice and my uncle probably doesn't have enough money to even have a decent meal! What a Christmas it's going to be for him. And his wife (my aunty) well, she's another story altogether!

Whatever Christmas spirit I managed to find went down the drain again. Siggghhh ... Gee, I've been posting nothing but depressing posts the past couple of weeks. If I keep this up, I'll probably get the most depressing blog award soon. But then, with the way things are, how do I even post something cheerful?
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