Last week we bade farewell to the longest serving employee to our family. We are all unsure exactly when Samnuk first joined us as a gardener but if memory serves me well I was either 9 or 10 which makes it nearly 30 years. He was initially employed with a gardening company contracted to work in our garden but after a few years in their service they wanted him to drop his gardening skills and become a bricklayer to which he balked and decided to work directly with my parents. I was about Iman's age when first joined us and spent a good time following him about the garden and learning Thai phrases from him. He saw us all grow up from children, through our teenage years, to getting married and having children of our own, some of which he took to more than others (sorry "Hallit").
Not one to enjoy attention, he didn't particularly like the fuss when we did this leaving dinner for him. We were all sad to say goodbye when he left a few days later and he too had tears in his eyes not only goodbyes to us but his friends all of whom he will probably never meet again. Years ago he joined our family as an employee but we after so many years he has become like family that it will take a while to adjust to life in the garden without our Samnuk.
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