The Bachelor Life

July 30, 2006 in Blogathon 2006, Family Matters, Memoirs of a Wanderer

My youngest uncle is a bachelor. He’s already approaching his 50s and he is still happily single. He’s quite loaded, that I know, since he is a branch manager of one of the local banks and he commands quite a high salary. He gets to travel abroad frequently, so much so that I really admired his lifestyle.

He used to have a girl-friend but they broke up, don’t know for what reason but since then, my uncle has never hooked up with any other girls. I wouldn’t say that he is gay because my uncle certainly, clearly does not act that way. Whatis more, I don’t think he’d dare lead an alternative lifestyle since my grandparents would’ve disowned him if he ever did turn out gay.

The funny thing is, while me and my uncle are one generation apart and in different careers, besides those differences, we are very much alike. Once I stumbled upon a very old black & white photograph taken in the 1960’s and from that picture, I stared out of thatpicture at myself!! I was shocked, of course, and questioned my dad about it who said, “That’s not you, silly boy! That’s my little brother and your youngest uncle, Dennis!”

Uncle Dennis looked awfully similar to me that it was really uncanny! Moreover, I later learnt that my uncle was also adopted, just like me! As I grew up, some of my relatives on my dad’s side always commented how Uncle Dennis and I looked alike. I once even wondered if he was in anyway related to me but I quickly dismissed it because mother did not approve of me thinking such thoughts.

Nevertheless, I secretly admired my uncle, even though he may sometimes look very strict and very snobbish, I know he’s a good person. I wish I had spent a bit more time with him, but sadly, he never had much liking to children. Probably that was one reason why he never got a girlfriend because he never wanted to have kids and had assumed that girls get married because they want to have kids.

And so, my uncle remain a bachelor and what an easy life he’s had! Of course, even though I aspire to remain a bachelor throughout my life, so that I can amass my wealth and lead a hedonistic lifestyle without having to worry of my wife splurging and my kids’ edication funds. Indeed, I’m certainly not planning to hook up with anyone anytime soon, and I just wish that my relatives and mom herself would just stop pressuring me.

This is one reason why I never liked to grow up…I may have grown up physically, but deep down in my heart, I’m still pretty much a spunky and rambunctious 13-year-old. And I wish to remain that way for as long as I can. But then again, mom has a point, if I hook up with someone, I wouldn’t have to worry about not having a heir to pass down my inheritance and not have to worry about being alone. However, I have gone through nearly 23 years of my life pretty much as a loner. I am very comfortable going out by myself, watch movies by myself and having meals by myself. While having some company is nice, I tend to lose interest in having any sort of conversation and would become an active listener and I would always be silent. This is especially true if the crowd happens to be people that I am not familiar with.

I’m turning 24 in a few months, I still have a long life ahead of me. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but I am not going to fret over the future. All I am concerned with now is to live each day to the fullest possible and as happy as I could, knowing that I’ve used up the hours, minutes and seconds of each day well.