Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

And it's April.  In four days, my mom turns 59. We celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary on the 5th and on the next day, the husband inches closer to 40. At this phase in life, time is something I have plenty of yet I'm losing it at a pace I cannot justify.   Today, I'm missing my mom and dad pretty bad. I don't think I've spent much time being with them even when I was with them. There was always school or they were working. But we lived together, ate dinner at the table every day and spent Sunday evenings as a family.  I measured time by school year and every year seemed like a lot of time then. It felt like I owned forever. It felt like the dame old tree was old while I bounced in eternal youth. It felt like I was going to school my whole life and eating dinner together at home.  But the years never missed a minute and still caught up with me: it was time to leave home. My parents wished me well and sent me off with pride. I wasn't living with the...

I know that I shouldn't be making assumptions and whatnot ( and I'm not ) while investigations are being carried out on the recent fire at the Villagio Mall in Doha, Qatar but hey, I can't help thinking about it. It did kill  19 people including 13 children after all.   According to some media reports, the water sprinklers and fire alarm systems were not working, and the floor planning made it a Herculean task for help to reach the nursery on the first floor. Also killed were some teachers and fire department personnels.  Pix from here  I was watching some videos of this incident on YouTube. Endless clouds of black smoke spiralled wildly over the mall's roof and there were some clips on rescuers carrying out children who seemed lifeless. What a tragedy. Imagine finding your kid dead in a diaper just hours after you've fed and sent him to a nursery. I've walked in that mall so many times before, and every time I did, I've always silently wondered abo...