Two families leave China 100 years ago, This is a journal recording their passage, their so-journ in Borneo and then on to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, England and beyond. A fascinating account of how time and place have changed the members.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
ABC Wednesday: E for elephants
We Chan kids are a funny lot, we laugh, we cry as we recall the times when we were kids. Memories exude such fondness for each other.
When I was 20 months old, Father went to England on a P & O liner. At each stop, he bought souvenirs. We all remember his black elephant. When the ship stopped in India, he bought a black teak elephant. Dad was a collector, he bought a souvenir every where he went.
Elizabeth asked her daughter Jeng to email us if any of her siblings remembered it. I even jokingly accused her that so it was her who stole the Elephant. Some remembered it was made of teak and the tusk of ivory, another that it had a broken stump.
Actually this wasn't the original elephant. Elizabeth's daughter in law Rosemary bought it in Cambodia, because her husband Wayne must have spoken about it very often.
I have 2 elephants, because I remembered that elephant. One, we bought it in a duty free shop in Bangkok. The water engineer took it to his office in Singapore. He didn't bring it back to New Zealand.
The other is an ornamented Sri Lanka elephant. This I treasure because my friend's husband died prematurely and left her and her 3 kids in a foreign land.
Now part of the family lives in Australia. I saw this in Brisbane.
These are panels of a letter holder. When my friend Joy left to live in New York, she gave it to me. Now it is something to remind me of our friendship. I hardly have hard copy letters.
http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/
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You're a collector too, with elephants from all over with histories so meaningful.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful stories about the elephants.
ReplyDeleteLove your choices for E.
E is for...
one doesn't forget one's elephants!
ReplyDeleteROG, ABCW
The Mama has 2 elephants made up of tiny ocean cone snail shells. They bring me smiles and thoughts of whimsy. :-)
ReplyDeleteTake 25 to Hollister
The View from the Top of the Ladder
Great collection of elephants. Carver, ABCW-Team
ReplyDelete