Heart string L

Few days back the bus I was on was packed to the doors. That was a normal sight since it was the evening peak hour. This very old grandpa boarded the bus with the grandson who's at most 5 years old. Forced their way into the sardine-packed bus to where I was at near the driver's seat.

I was half worrying for the little boy who didn't seem to be steady with his two feet. I wondered why the grandfather didn't decide to board the next bus instead which would probably be less crowded. And in my head I went "tsk, the bus is already so crowded and you just had to get onto it and make the poor little boy squeeze together with everyone". The grandpa told the driver in mandarin they had waited for the bus for the past half an hour. Moments later the little boy stumbled and the grandpa immediately took him to his side and clasped his arms tightly around him. Then he resumed his conversation with the bus driver, and something that he said struck a chord in my heart.

"Never mind if the adults go hungry, the children cannot go hungry".

And then I realised, the grandfather was so bent on getting onto the bus so that the little grandson could get home quickly for dinner.

A human showing love to another fellow human who is 70 years apart.

Today, I was on a bus again and there was a little girl sitting in front of me. She was getting a little restless and fidgety due to the long ride. Every few minutes she would turn back and look at her mother who was sitting beside me. In between she would hum some nice tunes and sing to her parents Humpty Dumpty.

I popped a Frozz sweet into my mouth and thought of offering her one. But looking at her age and the small delicate teeth, I had second thoughts. So I thought for very long how to make her ride less jerky and more enjoyable. Thank God I suddenly recalled I had two gummy sweets left in the other compartment of my bag. Offered them to her and she gave me three wide grins. The parents and lovely girl waved goodbye to me when they alighted.

I used to be a very reserved person. In fact, I still am. But I've come to realise, loving another person can be easy if you are genuine in doing so. Like what they always say, you don't have to wait till you're on a mission trip or community involvement programme to show others some love. And so the quote lingers till today, "love makes the world go round".

The bible speaks at great lengths about love too. In fact, the Bible is a love story by itself. 1 Corinthians reads, "love never fails".

How true. Love, in itself, never fails.