And It Gets Less

April 2024

This marks the first time — that I vividly remember — we had Eid without the big vacation time, as in going for a photo hunt or playing wicked games only a mother could love. I suppose that even my uncle at the very least came but he didn’t. Barely anyone came. I was at the point of questioning, “are we done fasting yet?”

No family photos. No wicked moments. No fun stuffs played around. Not even stunning landscapes and scenarios. Just a casual family visit.

You see, we’re always having this family gathering whenever Eid is coming, but I notice as time goes by, as my grandparents passed away one by one, as life itself goes by, these gatherings went scattered less and less to the point it’s basically just a simple visit like during typical weekends.

I understand nothing lasts forever. Sometimes, things go away all in a sudden, and sometimes they also gradually leave, and you can notice it and you either lament on it or move on and continue living, doing something else. I sense these family gatherings where we had fun and took lots of memorable photos are becoming a thing in the past.

I remember back when we had vacations to a tropical island at a sea north of Jakarta (Kepulauan Seribu) where I learnt to use my Nikon P900 before giving it to my relative as I am not satisfied with its result. I hit my foot hard against a reef there and it bleed a lot.

I remember another time when I had a tour of photo hunt from Jakarta’s Kota Tua area (and Sunda Kelapa harbour) to Bogor’s pristine rice fields with folks working on the field and children playing kites. I lost my lens hood as I learnt how to use it, and my cousin broke his camera (or camera lens? I do not really follow).

Eid is all about family gatherings, eh? But, I see it gets less. With what’s going on in life, perhaps time will tell when this event will be nothing but ‘just a visit’, with nothing remarkable and basically done due to compliance.

And it gets less. Maybe I’m going solo next time.