Great Grand Uncle I am...

I am not yet a grandfather, not even a father-in-law, but the law of nature is such that my oldest nephew who is only 5 years younger is already a grandfather. Whether I like it or not, I am someone's great grand uncle when I am shy of 60! This is nothing compared with a sister who became a grandmother at 39 mainly because she got married even before her 16th birthday.

As they say, time waits for no man, so while myself was late (comparatively) in getting married, and my children chose careers over marriage (or so it seems) but I can safely say that because no one with the right chemistry, common objective and preferably no long distance arrangement came along, my other relatives continue their fast pace through life.

At my age, my friends who are around 60 years old comprise great grandfathers, grandfathers and wannabees. Yes, there are those who wish but there are things beyond their control, which is a fact of life. My mother-in-law, at 91 is still waiting for a great grandson to continue with the family surname and she had 'ten hou kiew' (in Hakka) or 'tan chin koo' (in Hokien). The Hokien version brings back memories of how my brother who used to joke about a OCBC Chairman, Tan Chin Tuan. Because he was Chairman for so long, they used to joke that his brother, Tan Chin Koo (fictitious) is getting impatient!

I know my children will be reading this and have a good laugh, but they should take it as me dropping a heavy hint...
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