We skipped St Alf’s last Sunday. We had to get the two furry boys off to a sitter in Ashburton, in the hope of being able to attend the wedding of Tress’ cousin without having to worry about them.

Later that Sunday morning, as I took out a suit I thought I’d wear for the occasion, I fished out a little booklet from the inside pocket of the jacket. It was the wedding program of Sarah and Edwin. We had attended their wedding in Sydney in February 2020. We hadn’t been to another wedding since and I hadn’t used that suit either – another covid affected aspect of our lives.

Kathleen is the youngest of Uncle Seng (Paul) and Auntie Ann. She had just started high school when we first got here. There she was on Sunday arvo, walking down the aisle with both her parents on either side, in St Mary’s church at St Kilda East. Her husband David looked calm when we all waited for the bride to arrive. The church ceremony was short but meaningful and beautiful.

After the wedding we hung around and took pictures, before heading off to a pub at Punt Rd to have drinks and catch up with the relatives. We hadn’t caught up like that for a while so it was really nice. We then made our way to Albert Park Lake for the reception. The wines were pretty good which meant Tress had to drive home, as I snoozed in the car. We had worried about the furry boys earlier in the night, when the carer messaged Tress to say he had been howling.

We picked them up earlier than planned the next day. We couldn’t believe how much we missed them. We have been with them virtually 24/7 for the past 2 years (just under 1 year, in the case of the younger one). Tress is planning/hoping to be in Malaysia in June for her mum’s 80th, and I wondered how we/I would manage the boys, when that happens.

When we got home late morning, I did the lawns and Tress got a message from Li Har to ask if we wanted to catch up with them later that night. He dad has been visiting and was going home to Malaysia today. We said yes, and after I was done, we washed up, and went and got some fruits for a platter Tress then made to bring along.

At Alex and Li Har’s there were numerous families, most of them from Klang, and it was really nice to piece together where each fitted in the Klang community. Not for the last time, we were all amazed at how small the world can be if we tried to connect the dots. There was a guy whose father once owned a medical practice that Tress’ uncle took over. Then there was another elderly gentleman who used to be a supplier to Tress’s dad’s family textile business. We also met a paeditrician who Kiddo used to see when she was little and we were in Klang. It was just a lovely and strange feeling to make all these connections. We left early as we had to go back to work the next day. It had been a long weekend, with Monday being a Labor Day public holiday, and it was a long weekend with plenty of catching up/meeting with people who occupied precious spots in our paths.