Ma, Ba, yan yu wufa xing rong wo you duo ai ni men… na wo jiu yong yingyu biao da ba.
(I just said in Chinese I don’t know the words to express my love for you… so I will say it in English.)
Mum, you are very much my understanding of the Proverbs 31 woman. Not only do you keep the home in order, but you are able to support Dad in business from all the different vocations he undertook and instilled in me from my youth a respect for Dad. You provided me unconditional love, drew smiley faces with betadine on my grazes and tried to give me the very best. Mum, you blame yourself for my failures – you make me out to be more mature than I am. If there was someone who I thought for sure had the ability to time travel, it would be you – you juggled and continue to juggle so much – I don’t know where you get the time from. While I struggled with juggling work and wedding preparation, you took it in your stride ordering things for Andy and I.
I love you dearly. Though, we will be starting a new family – I will always be your son and strive to honour you and dad, as this is the first commandment with a promise.
Dad, I have so much to thank you for. I still remember the moment when I was a little fat kid in primary school doing little athletics and you ran the full 3 kms with me. The other kids finished the race like 5 mins ago and I was ready to call it quits. But you came along and ran beside me, encouraging me not to quit and set a mark to improve on. When you left your office job as an import exports manager in the hopes of starting a small business and providing more for your family, and as a 30-year-old grown man, you apprenticed, carrying bags for another photographer, and when the market changed, jumped to another new vocation. It was your application of the lessons you taught me to yourself that impacted me the most. You taught me by example that life is a marathon and not a sprint, learning is a life-long occupation, and that as the husband and father to the family you are to give yourself sacrificially – which often means relishing being outside of your comfort zone.
I don't know where
The time has gone
Since those little boy days
Doesn't seem that long
Yet here you are
It's your wedding day
And there's one thing darling
I'd like to say...
Be kind, be sweet
Be a gentle man
Care and share
And always be fair
And remember though you now
Have taken a wife
You will always be my son
My Loving son
You filled my life
With so much joy
As I watched you grow
From that little boy
Now I'll try not to cry
As you walk away
And just once more darling
I'd like to say...