Same Same

I have a younger cousin who is about the same age as my brother. We used to call him itik when we were growing up, I have no idea where that name came from. He is a child of divorce parents and his grandparents took him and his brother in, raised them like their own children. I wasn't really close to him but my impression of him was of a weak and spoilt child.

He grew up and moved in with his mother for a while before moving to KL to live on his own. I had no idea what he was up to until we were reconnected via FB a couple of years ago. By the way, this is what I like about FB, how it can connect you with long lost cousins and in 5 minutes, you'll be up to speed on what they've been doing all these years you were apart.

He did a lot, man oh man I was impressed. He modeled, acted in a few local TV productions, opened a cool barber shop, flipped burgers at night with a few close relatives (they opened the joint together I think) and now he's in Australia picking fruits. And FB just updated me that he's going to the UK soon. He's so young yet so driven. Oh, what wouldn't the world offer a 22 year old kid? So much potential!

I'm ashamed for prejudging him all this time because I can see that we have so much in common. I identify with his drive, opportunistic mind and open mindedness. He's doing things I wished I had done when I was younger. In a way, I'm living precariously through him and I wish him all the best! I don't know if he's doing all this for money or something else, but one thing he definitely will have in abundance is valuable life experience. Life is, in any case, the best teacher you can get.