Chinese New Year

Long week, once again
Chinese New Year was last week but I just didn't have the time to sit down and write
The best part's definitely the people
Watching them gamble
Watching grandpa go from weak coughing to hearty toothless chuckling is one scene I won't ever forget
Watching mum bustling around with her never ending list of things to do
Trying to help her but being told different instructions that changes constantly, all at one go
Trying to talk to her while doing all that stuff

Bro blasts music unfit for the occasion
Lil bro screams and sings
You join him
With your screeching, you believe you contribute enough to make it soothing for the soul.
Dad cracks the same ole jokes and laughs at them himself.
Mum laughs at us for laughing at me who laughs at dad who laughs at himself

Okay that was bad.
I just wanted to try that kinda sentence out.

Anyway.
Great family, food, and movies made it amazing
Chinese New Year may have lost its magic
You may have your own opinions about how they view this occasion
You may have found the people less joyous and excited
You may have found it disappointing that kids were glued to phones instead of running around

But you realize that times are changing.
Adults are growing old and tired of the mundaneness of it.
Kids are... Well... The new generation are mostly electronic device holders
Teenagers are as awkward as you are

It sounds pretty cliched, but you do miss the times when Chinese new year was not a meetup to get over and done with, to finish the food, to finish giving out red packets, to finish saying the good ole 'wow, you've grown up!' Without actually knowing who they are talking to.

It used to be magical.
And you wonder, was it truly magical at the very beginning, or was it the same as now?
The only change may have been the next generation of kids.
The magic may have been in your very soul itself.
When it was younger, purer, and simpler.
Or is it the people who have changed?

This time, you were expecting a heartwarming reunion with loads of chatting and updating each other of their lives. Gambling would be loud and uncontrollably crazy. The adults would be playing mahjong, while kids your age would be building castles with mattresses, even though that never ended well as you were spanked. You would be robbing food from the kitchen to share the raid with your cousins before dashing beneath the block to play catching.
This time, it was just silence. No playing, no screaming, no interaction.
You try to start conversations with the kids you grew up with, but there's a gap and you engage in meaningless talk. Gambling was short. You helped out with the food. Everyone waited patiently. No raiding, no 'HAHA YOU CANNOT CATCH ME'.

Perhaps, that is the magic of childhood.
After all, the only constant is change.
Nothing remains forever, adults and children alike.
Times change. People change. Everything changes.
And while change itself can be good, you are silently disappointed.

You go to bed smiling
You smile, because it is evident that things will never revert back to when you were young, no matter how many years you wait. After all, you do this thing whereby you wait for Chinese New Year annually  expectantly for the same scene as when you were young
But childhood will always be that magical short clip that you can click to replay in the theatre in your head, and while indulgence is never good, you allow yourself to go to bed with that clip playing.
You smile, because despite your own disappointment, Chinese NewYear is still magical. The fact that change has taken place is magical. The fact that even mom and dad has changed makes it magical.
Nothing lasts forever. None of that lasted.
But you are glad that at least, there was once when you could experience the magic.
At least, you had it before.

And that is more than you could ever ask for.
And it is enough.