Peter Pan

Adik is already 12. That's a big milestone for him. And for me too. The second time that my offspring has reached that age. It also serves as a reminder for me. About getting older.

Adik is something else. He likes being different. I can describe Adik although I may not be able to fully figure him out. Adik was born when I was abroad studying. Ibu drove herself to Dr Chaudry's Clinic when she felt like delivering but once at the Clinic, Adik decided to stay inside. When Nenek came to wait with Ibu and accompany her in the delivery room Adik still refused to come out. Finally when Nenek left for home, Ibu went to the delivery room again and Nenek and Atuk had to rush back to the Clinic. Adik was the only one to have the comforting voice of Atuk to 'azan' to his ears.

Growing up Adik has a lot of misadventures. He took them all in strides even though sometimes he could really test our patience, mine especially. He also had to always compete with Abang. He would have to prove how good he is to Abang to feel accepted by his big brother who I am certain he adored very much. And the competitive Abang has a high standard of acceptance before Adik can even get the slightest recognition. I am sure that's common between siblings but I can clearly observe this in the two brothers. In fact, sometimes I felt like I was quietly or maybe subconsciously encouraging Abang to set the higher standards.

And maybe because of this or other reasons, Adik at certain point decided to have his own set of interests and hobbies. While Abang enjoys the science of outer space exploration and modern technology, Adik loves the animal world especially the ocean lifeforms and the extinct or exotic kinds. I once remarked to them that Abang may try to reach for the stars but Adik is keeping his feet on the ground.

But then the opposites would also be true when it comes to writing and reading. At age 10, Abang could write a sensible essay and story with sensible narration and plots, complete with concrete arguments and reasoning. Adik writing ability is more focussed on the strange and far-fetched adventures involving dragons, dinosaurs and cartoon characters. When Abang is reading current and mainstream books and novels, Adik reading variety involves Pokemons, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants.

As Baby Faim grows older and a little wiser about the world, Adik took it as his new found vocation to educate Faim on the finer aspects of living. He teaches Faim what TV show to watch, what toys to play and how to get what they want from their parents. Instead of growing older and mature, Adik is getting himself younger to reach out to Faim.

And we only know recently that Adik has some difficulty. All these times, we were taking Adik at face value without realising his own battle inside him. For that I truly regret my sometimes untempered heighten emotions toward him.

But we all know in our hearts and our mind that Adik is such a loving and kind boy. Adik is very sensitive to other's feeling and is himself unrestrained in showing emotions. I know this fact to be true. Despite our occasional misgivings about his characters and mannerism, Adik has proven that he loves each and everyone of us in the family. And, we in return loves him so much too. And, we know he will be growing up soon as fast as time the can fly, but we do hope that his heart remains with us as he explores the different and wonderful life that awaits him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADIK FROM ALL OF US.