The Great Family Fracas

Family-can't live with them, can't live without them. - Michelle Liew

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The Lim family gathered for their annual Lunar New Year reunion dinner, where three generations clashed amicably (or not) over mismatched cutlery and the Jade Teapot - a family heirloom grandpa filled with cryptic, fortune cookie-like memos about the family before he passed.

“I was just thinking,” Joanne slurred, her words muffled by a mouth full of abalone. “If this teapot actually brought luck, Grandpa would have left more than IOUs in his will.”

“Joanne! Respect Grandpa and the Teapot!” Uncle Loong's fists came down on the antique marble table with a hard bang.

Devlin, the family's young teenage heir, smirked from his strategically placed near the Wi-Fi router. With a few taps on his tablet, he displayed the family group chat on the panoramic TV screen for all to see.

“Devlin!” Mom hollered, her shrill voice cutting through the chaos as he scrolled through the messages.

“George's suit makes him look like a monkey.”

“Joanne can't cook either, bless her trying heart.”

The table fell silent. Then Uncle Loong laughed. “He's got you there, Joanne!”

Amid the verbal tussle and laughter, someone bumped the teapot. It wobbled, toppled, and shattered into a million shards - scattering Grandpa's old memos like autumn leaves of truth.

The room froze as Joanne opened one. “Mei Kwei (Rose)? Who's Mei Kwei?”

Uncle Loong's face turned tomato-red. Aunt Mei Chin grinned. “Oh, Loong, don't think I've forgotten. You used to camp at her place for her pineapple tarts. You practically lived there for them. I half-expected wedding invitations addressed to the tarts!”

Uncle Loong excused himself to go to the bathroom. But learning about Mei Kwei turned, though awkwardly, into an unexpected round of heartwarming stories.

As Joanne swept up the remnants of the shattered teapot after dinner, she picked up a shard of jade. She ran her fingers over it her knowing grin as cryptic as one of grandpa's notes, as if she had stumbled onto a secret only she could understand. The sharp jabs had dulled into warm grins, and the family agreed- next year’s dinner would be worth attending.