In my family, I have always held on to the notion that the elderly would past away first, perhaps in sequence. But that is where I am terribly wrong. With the recent passing of my first cousin, Roniah, Death has pronouncedly skipped a generation and made me frightfully aware of my own mortality. She was just 39. Her death was due to cancer. I just found out from my uncle that she had a small cancer growth in one of her ear when she was just 13 and had undergone Chemotherapy. I presumed that she did not go for a yearly check-up because she must have thought that she had completely recovered from it. Unfortunately, after a husband and 3 handsome sons, the cancer had come back with a vengeance. I saw her last while she was on holiday with her family in Kota Kinabalu in before Christmas in December 2007. She looked tired but healthy. That was the first time (the last time), she and her family drove from Kuching, Sarawak to Kota Kinabalu. Her husband was in the Army. Her health then started to rapidly deteriorate from February 2008 until her death on 21st September 2008.
I have always wondered who would be laid to rest next to my late grandmother whom we nicknamed “Nenek Samurai” (after a memorable incident where she brandished a parang to scare off her son-in-law in a fit of rage) at the hillside cemetery of my father's kampung. I would have never guessed in a million years that it would my dear cousin. The Army really do take great care of their own. My auntie informed me that they have arranged everything from transferring her body from the hospital in Kuching, flight to Kota Kinabalu then transportation to Kampung Tenghilan. They helped with the grave dig, paid their respect in full uniform and helped with the burial. We are so grateful to them.
Back at her oldest brother, Kalang’s house, I watched her youngest son who is only 4 years old running around and playing by himself full of energy and spirit. Sometimes he stumbles upon one of my aunt and cried “Mommy! Mommy!”…. Oblivious that his mother would never be around to catch him, carry him nor see him grow-up. That really breaks my heart. Everyone’s heart. May God look after this family and give them strength. May my late cousin lay in peace. Amen.
Friday, 26th September 2008
I have always wondered who would be laid to rest next to my late grandmother whom we nicknamed “Nenek Samurai” (after a memorable incident where she brandished a parang to scare off her son-in-law in a fit of rage) at the hillside cemetery of my father's kampung. I would have never guessed in a million years that it would my dear cousin. The Army really do take great care of their own. My auntie informed me that they have arranged everything from transferring her body from the hospital in Kuching, flight to Kota Kinabalu then transportation to Kampung Tenghilan. They helped with the grave dig, paid their respect in full uniform and helped with the burial. We are so grateful to them.
Back at her oldest brother, Kalang’s house, I watched her youngest son who is only 4 years old running around and playing by himself full of energy and spirit. Sometimes he stumbles upon one of my aunt and cried “Mommy! Mommy!”…. Oblivious that his mother would never be around to catch him, carry him nor see him grow-up. That really breaks my heart. Everyone’s heart. May God look after this family and give them strength. May my late cousin lay in peace. Amen.
Friday, 26th September 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment