Bond of different kinds

I have been a week now in Paris. With my youngest son, Aiman. Wherever I go, he'll go too. He's a very independent son. He can prepare his own drink, get his own food, learn a few skills to survive like learning to surf the internet for games to entertain himself. But he's emotionally attached to me. Very much so.

On one metro train trip in Paris, even though my husband asked him to sit beside him, he refused and prefer to stand up beside me. Walking on the street, he feel safe if I'm holding his hands. But if my husband is the one that's holding his hand, his eyes are always wandering around making sure that I'm in the vicinity. I only realized this during this Paris trip. The bond between a child and his/her mother is sometime have to be seen to be understood.

I'm glad for this trip. I get to be with my husband. He's assigned here in Paris for a two months stint. The initial agreement was for me not to follow him to save money for the kids' college cost. That agreement last until the first day my husband arrived at Paris. In our first telephone conversation, I make a joke of going to Paris since my husband got a much bigger and spacious apartment hotel. Too lonely to stay alone. To my surprise he urged me to make all the preparations necessary to go there whenever possible. That end my misery and bout of cry period for being left alone in Malaysia. I guess the bond between a husband and his wife is sometime have to be seen to be understood too.

I know my kids back in Malaysia missed me. Especially my girl. She's coming home from her boarding school today. Meaning she get to get in touch with me through the internet - Skype, yahoo messenger or FaceBook. Maybe girls or female in general, are more expressive of their feelings. I wonder if my boys are missing me as much as my girl. Are you boys?

And I miss my mom and dad too. And my mother in laws. And my sisters and brothers. I hope they are doing well.

It's not the physical distance that matters the most. It's how close we are with each other in our heart. And I would like to think that Allah and his messenger, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the closest in my heart. For I love everyone that I love because of Allah and his messenger.

May Allah bless us all.

vicinity - the area near or surrounding a particular place

stint - a person's fixed or allotted period of work

bout - a short period of intense activity of a specified kind