In yesterday's entry, I told you about the potluck farewell party at Peachgrove Playcentre. The farewell was for Terena (another member who's also leaving) and me. We (my daughters and I)
When we arrived, they were just about to start having dinner. There were 2 types of pasta bake (including my curry pasta bake), fried rice (somebody bought it from an oriental shop), two types of salad, baked sausages and lasagna. You might wonder why I didn't prepare a Malaysian dish. Well, at first I thought I could bring special rice (like tomato, chicken or coconut rice). But then it was hard to bring the special rice as I need more than one plates/ serving bowls. The curry pasta bake is taken from one of Malaysian's magazine. (MAJALAH RASA EDISI KHAS-sebenarnya biasa org kita panggil Makaroni Bakar). I would share the recipe in tomorrow's entry. So, be patient okay....
The first agenda was having dinner while chatting and catching up in a more relaxing atmosphere compared to the usual one when we are on sessions. I could still chatting, smiling and share some jokes with the others. Fathini and Hafizah were eating while talking to their friends too. They can't wait to go out and play with other kids. So, I asked them to finish up their food quickly.And I managed to take a picture of them near our new mascot at the playcentre; Gruffollo(based from the kids favourite character taken from a storybook).
You can see from the photos that there were not so many members turned up. Only about 1/3 turned up. When it was the speech time, Annalise started off by asking the kids to make a lot of noise first before she asked them to be quiet. It worked! Annalise gave a little speech by saying that they really appreciate what Terena and I had done and they are going to miss us. Then, Leah said that Ella (Fathini's BFF) is going to miss her and she appreciates my efforts in writing learning story especially for Ella. Terena didn't say much as she was already shedding some tears. I had prepared a little speech that I wrote on a piece of paper. I prepared it because I didn't want to be speechless. I shared how I really felt about the playcentre. Would you like to know the content? Yes? All right:
Kia Ora,
I just want to say thank you to all for having us here at Peachgrove Playcentre since May 2008 until now. We've had heaps of valuable and sweet experiences while we were here. We are sure going to miss all of you and of course this place too. We've felt that you and your families are part of our family too as we've grown up and become closer each day. (I had to pause here because I was about to shed some tears...huhu). If you happen to visit Malaysia in the future, please let us know. I'll write my address and my contact no. in the next newsletter. Thank you.
Ka Ki Te Ano and Kia Kaha.
Right after my speech, I was given some souvenirs with the farewell card signed by the other members. Annallise as one of my close friend there, gave the present and the card to me. Fathini and Hafizah couldn't wait to open it and they asked my permission to tear up the wrapper. We discovered that we received a beautiful photo album that contains the photos of us at the playcentre and a special book called "Magic Moment". Again I felt so touched especially when we went through the photos together. betul2 dah nak nangis sgt masa tu
By 7, most of my friends had to leave as their kids had to go to bed early. (Their kids normally go to bed by 7.30 or 8 p.m.). I took some photos with those who had to leave first like with Karlene (in a white jacket), Kim (long blond haired friend), Joe (a rather new Maori friend there), Allison (in a black jacket) and Sarah Young (carrying her two kids). We said good bye, wished each other good wishes and glad to know each other.
The others like Annalise, Tracy, Sarah Hudson, Annette, Terena and Maree stayed and we had a nice coffee time with some fruit cakes brought by Annalise. The mood was changing to happy again as we just chilled out and chatted. Leah made everybody a cup of tea/coffee. She was like the barister who took orders from us. (LOL). Fathini and Hafizah entertained themselves by playing with Maree's eldest daughter, Isla. Annette who's always like to share some jokes shared some funny stories and made us laughing. I thought that I wanted to take a photo with each of them but since I brought the tripod, I asked them to gather around for a group photo. Thus, we had two lovely group photos at the end just before the sad moment again. I couldn't hold my tears anymore when I hugged each of them as they were among my best friends at the playcentre.
How do you handle farewell? Have you ever shed some tears when you had to say good bye?
8 comments:
oo...sedihnya..ni kan minggu2 sedih saya...semua benda boleh wak saya nangis :(. Anywhere, masa saya nak tinggalkan UiTM Jengka dulu sbb nk transfer balik KK, Sy berdiri menangis kat beranda asrama sorg2 waktu masih terang2 tanah..mmg sy ingat sgt saat tu..as i say, i hate good bye..uhuks. But life must go on, kita doa moga days ahead are better than yesterday.
aku dulu ada orang buat surprse farewell party .dorang suruh bagi speech, memang bergenang air mata tahan nanges, end up with drama air mata laa..hikss
mesti sedih sgt kan kak nur..
yess..really hard to say gd bye..
xpe,nanti-nanti dtg la lagi kesana,bkawan sampai bila-bila,mana tau someday anak-anak kita pulak nak study ke sana kan..
Mila, esok akk tulis yg ceria2 sikit ok.
Eliss, susah nak berucap lebih2 lg nak ucap selamat tinggal.
Sati, haraop2 mcm tulah.
xpo, nanti bleh gi lawat diorg lg lepas ni :)
nok maghi pulok kena ado duit. keno sipe duit dulula.
fathini n hafizah nangis tak?
nampak close sgt kak nur n friends, takpa, simpan duit byk2 pastu nanti dtg sana lagi=)
Fathini sedih juga sbb dia dah ada bestfriend. K,Nur mmg close sbb kami duduk jaga anak2 sendiri dgn anak2 diaorg kat situ. Buat mcm2 aktiviti utk anak2.
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