December 5th And Aunt Chalin

This is a little late already.

December 5th is always a big day for Nuch and her family. First, December 5th father's day in Thailand, which is set on the King's birthday (The Queen's birthday i s mother's day). So, you have all the festivities associated with that - fireworks, parades, concerts, speeches... that go on for the entire week. Second, it is, also, her uncle's birthday (he was born the same day and year as the King). So, last Saturday Nuch and I went to his house to pay him a visit and give him his annual birthday gift - a towel. Towels or fabric are the traditional gift to family members on special occasions.

For my wedding Nuch and I bought a "special cloth" for everyone that attended the morning ceremony. At the time, I thought it was a hand-woven quilt, made from traditional Thai silk and decorated with ornate patterns that represent the ties that bind us to our relatives, ancestors, and some day to our children. Nope... it's just a bath towel that you could get at any Wal-Mart, and after 82 years Nuch's uncle must have a Wal-Mart SuperStore-sized rack of them, but, I digress.

I didn't get any pictures of Nuch's uncle, but I did get some pictures of Nuch's Aunt Chalin, who lives in the same compound. She's in her late 80's and is struggling along, but always in good spirits. When we arrived at her room, Nuch's other cousins were also there. We had not seen them for a while, so we had a mini- family reunion. Which is a little odd because everyone lives within a couple hundred yards of each other.

Anyway... here we are in Nuch's aunt's room. Everyone is wearing pink to celebrate the King's birthday. His color used to be yellow, so I'm not sure why it changed.

Here Aunt Chalin getting pretty for her guests. She's got diabetes, heart disease, and is mostly blind, but is always cheery when we stop by.