John, Spot and Bob

John, Spot and Bob.

Two of a kind, one different.

Memories from my past,

of laughter, love and joy.

Faded pictures, lost in time,

Lost in movement, lost in the wind,

but the happy memories remain,

John, Spot and Bob,

three dear old friends,

from a time long passed by,

thanks for the wonderful time,

and the beautiful memories ingrained

in my mind now and forever.

~ Nil

Two very common Christian names, John and Bob. And Spot, well, not so common a name.

So, who is John, Spot and Bob. These are my first three "best" friends that I remember.

John and I went to kindergarten together in 1974 and 1975.

I cannot remember John's last name and I doubt he would even remember me at all.

I studied in Kim Sen Kindergarten, part of Kim Sen Chinese Primary School in Bukit Mertajam, Penang mainland.

In kindergarten, John and I usually sat together. We played games and we studied English, Malay and Mandarin.

The only faded picture I had of my school days was destroyed in a flood a long time ago. And what I have are the fond memories of the classroom, the teachers and among thirty odd students, John's name is the only one I remember.

I left kindergarten in mid term in 1975 when my dad got a job on the island and we moved to Penang Island.

There was one more term and when we moved to the island, I did not continue kindergarten and stayed at home until the school year started in January of 1976.

I never met John again. And while the faded picture has been destroyed and the memories start to fade as well, I remember John, and it brings a smile to my face. It was a fun carefree time.

Spot and Bob or Bobalue was technically my first pet.

I never had a pet growing up, no dogs, cats or anything. Somehow my parents did not believe in having pets.

We could not adopt the cockroaches and the lizards either. Every now and then we would catch a tiny wienie little spider, put it in a matchbox and play with it hoping it would bite us and make us Spider Man.

No such luck, and as soon as we took it out of the matchbox to coax it to bite us on the palms of our hands, it made a run to the wild and escaped.

I am sorry to the spiders, Please forgive me as I was young and foolish, I love you and Thank you for allowing us some fun times and dreams of becoming super heroes.

Spot was this big Dalmatian that belonged to the house owner in which I had rented a room with my then best friend and then brother.

Spot was a fun interesting dog but he was always outside and not allowed in the house.

But he was a really fun and huge dog, reminded me of Scooby Do.

Sometimes when the front door was left open, he would take the opportunity to run into the house and create havoc and run around everywhere.

I never got to know him that well and heard much later on that he was stolen.

I hope he had a good life and is happy in rainbow heaven now, running around with his tongue out and tail wagging and having the most fun time in his life.

Bob or Bobalue was my host parents cat in Steven's Point, Wisconsin.

This was the first pet I had some feeling for. I used to play with it and it would often jump on my lap on a cold winter night to warm me up as well as to be cuddled.

Bob was already quite old when I first met her but she was around throughout my stay in Wisconsin.

Bobalue too has passed on many years ago and to her too I wish her all happiness in rainbow heaven.

Bob used to like playing with this little catnip mouse and would chase it around the house when I ran with the little catnip mouse.

Bob would also catch birds and bring it home as a present at times. Poor little birds but Bob sure had some good hunting instincts.

To my first human best friend John and to my first pet buddies Spot and Bob, my happy memories always remain.

Take care and be well.