... Wobbly Wednesday ...

Thanks a lot again for all the wonderful wishes. I went home yesterday to a quiet family celebration sans my dad and bro as they are still not home yet. My birthday is not one whereby we celebrate grandly for the past few years cos I have always feel uncomfortable doing so.

I still remember the day I turned 13 years old. It was such a wonderful memory of cakes, food, presents and laughter. I always looked forward for my mum's bubur merah putih every year on my brother's and my birthday. So, my mum cooked the bubur merah putih on my birthday back then and we were going to my grandma's place (she was living with maternal aunt at that time) the next day to give it to her. I remember getting ready for school 16 years ago today, when my mum received a phone call from my aunt. My aunt was hysterical on the phone cos my grandma was gasping for air suddenly and she had no idea what to do. My mum told her to call the ambulance quickly. I remember the mad rush from home all the way to my aunt's house in Kallang. My mum was crying all the way and my dad, bro and I weren't sure how to react. By the time we reached there, my grandma had passed away. The paramedics failed to resuscitate her and they attributed her death to heart attack. The whole house was filled with sobs.

I remembered my grandma's body being laid on the bed, with kain batik covering her whole body. I remembered sitting on the floor, facing her, and reciting the surah Yaasin. I remembered the two young police officers who came down as well, who with so much respect, sat down and offered prayers to my late grandma.

Life was never the same after a death of a loved one. My late maternal grandma was the only one I was close too when I was young. She was the one who taught me to pray, to be thankful of what I have and to be morally upright. She was the one who would wake my brother and I for school when we were still in primary school. She would prepare breakfast, iron our clothes, remind us to study hard in school and would always kiss us before we leave. When were got home from school, she will be there at the from gate, waiting for us and uttering 'Shukur Alhamdulillah' when she saw us heading towards her. As I was and still am not close to my paternal grandma, I always looked for my late maternal grandma for answers to all my nitty gritty immature questions. She was always there, answering me patiently and with so much love that I still yearn for her even after she is gone. So looking back at these memories, I still do shudder the thought of losing another loved one, even a pet cat!

I have lost count of how many pet cats who had passed on. There was a time when I was still in secondary school, where we kept a total of 13 cats at home. It wasn't as bad as it sounds cos the cats were so well-behaved and they don't fight for territorial purposes. All of them were strays. Then about 5 died one by one during a period of time due to some feline viral infection :(. My mum buried each and everyone of them. She said they deserve a proper burial and not just by dumping their dead bodies down the rubbish chute. When my sis were born, we had to give away or release the cats. I remembered crying so much but I had to choose my sis over them. We didn't keep any cats since (though my mum still actively feed the strays as and when she sees them) until recently. Only when my sis was 10 years old that my dad allowed me to keep JinJer. It was like an uphill battle to win my dad over but I guess JinJer's pitiful and cute face did most of the job *heheh*.