The Last Gathering

Yesterday afternoon I was in my best mood. My ‘adik-adik’ invited me for their farewell- do and I was the guest-of-honor. FYI, they just completed their year long Management Trainee Program and will be started off as new staff in the Bank next week.

Though I just knew them for a few months only, but they were kind enough to invite me for a farewell speech. Of course I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t even remember the full name of some of them and here I was standing to talk about memories. But since food was provided, so what the hell.

Anyway I spoke a lot of things (rambling is my forte and that should be a breeze) but one thing I remember the most was when I said something about ‘explore all options, make the right choice and pursue the dreams’ and it hits me. Suddenly I saw myself in them and felt the very same burning desire I felt 7 years ago and got carried away. I talked on and on about how I was when I was their age and the dreams I once had.

They seemed didn’t mind at all but then I stopped when I realized what I was doing. I felt embarrassed. I just opened up to 18 total strangers and whining about my failed dreams instead about them and their best memories here.

I paused and looked around.

‘They are some of the brightest, smartest young graduates I know. Of course, they don’t need to be told what to do. They probably have planned 5 or 10 years ahead of them. So what was I thinking?’

At the end, one of them came up to me and said ‘Encik Mus, are those stories real? Hardly believable, maybe because they were coming out from you’ she giggled.

‘Anyway, I thought you were doing great’.

I just smiled. What a sweet sweet girl.