Surprise....

...today, but not the good kind.

My cousin M messaged me on MSN in the last 30 minutes of work and within a minute of that, his brother D messaged me as well, which was lovely and unexpected, particularly as they are 6 hours ahead in Amsterdam. They didn't have good news to share.

My grandfather died today in Shenzhen and I don't know what to feel. They had both received a call from my uncle just 30 minutes before messaging me and as I hadn't heard from my mother, I didn't know if she knew yet. I called my sister to find out if she had heard anything but Mom hadn't called her, and I didn't want to call while I was still at work in case Mom was crying because I'd probably start crying too.

So I packed up, left work and called home as soon as I was out of the elevator....but no answer. I kept calling and when my mother finally reached me, she was seemingly calm and matter-of-fact...she was going to leave for Hong Kong this Friday and is leaving as scheduled, but instead of celebrating a homecoming, she'll be preparing for a funeral.

I'm sad that my grandfather won't be there when we go for our family trip next month. It's now too late for Piglet to meet her great-grandfather, not that she would likely remember, but at least she'd have the photos...if I think about it, I think I'll cry...and I don't think I want to cry right now.