what a morning to start off the day.

My sister, Zarah, called me early and sadly told me that her boyfriend had broken up with her. The two of them had been together for more than three years. They had shared their second apartment. But not anymore. She did not tell me why he wanted to seperate from her.

I can only surmise that he left her because of the 'stiff culture' (his own words) her family allegedly lives and that she grew up in. This is what he repeatedly complained about (even to me!).

Whether my sister, my family, including me, truly live in a 'stiff culture'; or whether his people's culture perhaps is ignorant, impoverished, or impertinent -- I believe to draw the line on this issue is a matter of personal judgment.

Ironically, today's weather precisely reflects how she must feel: