Wordless Wednesday

40th Day

Today marks the 40th day after the death of my beloved grandma. There was mass held in her house today but I was not there to celebrate it. May God judge her fairly and place her among the good people in heaven.

Reminiscing the few last days of her life, I remember visiting her on Christmas morning at the hospital. She was lying on her bed with her tired eyes. I hold her hand, wished her Merry Christmas and said sorry for what she'd been through. How I wished she could be with us to celebrate our family day and Christmas celebration at home. The doctor told us about her condition, she couldn't eat any solid food because her throat was swollen. We left afterwards. We still went on with the celebration because that was my grandma's wish. She did not want anyone to be sad on Christmas day. My cousin and aunties took turn to care for her in the hospital. 

The next day, we were shocked when my uncle called to inform that grandma's condition was getting worst. The moment we heard about the shocking news, there were silence between us for some moment. We were speechless until mother told us to get dressed quickly. We rushed to the hospital and saw most of the families member were already there. We went in to see her and she was breathing heavily  and had to use oxygen mask. Everytime someone talked to her, her heart beat faster. But she couldn't say a word, only her tears kept on falling . My heart ached so much. Doctor asked us to be prepared. I can only prayed for God's help and strength to accept whatever happened at the moment. Everyone cried. Soon a priest and a sister offered mass for her. All of us standing by her bed side praying for her. We asked for her forgiveness and told her it's okay for her to take a long rest . My sibling, hubby and I went home at 11pm when we noticed that her condition became stable.

When we reached home, we couldn't sleep. We were all awake except for my little sister,  just to wait for any phone call. At 2.30am the next morning, dad came knocking and told us that grandma has finally died at 12.40pm, just few minutes after her daughter from Telupid arrived. Strange things did happen on that day. We were puzzled when Celcom line suddenly experienced interruption and mum couldn't reached us to tell us the sad news. My father's first knock on the door was then  followed by Celcom's noticed to inform us that  there were more than 10 miscalled from my mum just after grandma last breath.

We rushed to grandma's house. Everyone was there waiting for the undertaker to finished their job before we were allowed to see her. I went to search for mum. she said she was okay but I know she was very sad. Grandma's face was so peaceful . She died with a smile in her face. she looked even prettier when my aunties put light makeup on her, and make her wore her favorite green scarf which she wore to church every Sunday. Actually this is the very first time I had the gut to see dead people lying in a coffin and touched them. Maybe because she was my grandma and that made it less frightening. We stayed at grandma's house that night.

The next morning, we went home to do house chores and headed back to grandma's house. More and more people came to pay their last respect. In the evening, there was Rosary prayer offered to my grandma. When they sang the "Amazing Grace", I couldn't hold my tears any longer. We stayed again for the night.

The next day was the funeral day. There was no priest available that day to do the mass. But few of my uncle and aunties were catechist, so they did the mass. When the casket was close, I can't hold my tear. Luckily, hubby was there to give moral support. Each family members was given the chance to pay their last respect. When it was my turn, I told her how much I love her, asked her to rest well and also asked her  to pray for us the living people on earth. Before we headed to the graveyard, my cousin as our representatives took a chance to thanked all the people for their continuous prayer and generous donation.

When we arrived at the graveyard. Daddy was already there. Then there’s a short prayer. I was just 3 steps behind, and I saw everything from the beginning till the end. I watched them lower the casket in the ground and and then a lid is put on the casket. I stood back and watched them cover the hole. Everything was happening so fast and smooth. By the time I realized it’s over, everyone was throwing flower petals on her grave.

Then we head back home feeling lighthearted. Thank you, Lord for making everything went smoothly. Thank you for the nice weather for those 3 days despite that it’s still in a monsoon season. We really miss her presence.

'Gone home to glory'...
in loving memories of Madam Martha Sutinah...

6/3/35 - 27/12/11...
May your soul rest in peace...

 

Short Updates

Hello everyone. Good morning and Happy Sunny Saturday. I've been neglecting my blog for quite sometime now. While waiting for hubby to finish fixing the ATM machine here in Wisma Muis, I guess I'll make a short entry here with my tablet. So, here goes some short updates from me since December last year. Sound so yesterday, isn't it? 

• Celebrated Christmas and our SUGGGIT family party at my hometown. 
• Went to a traditional urut-mengurut session during the school holidays to help my TTC plan. 
• My maternal grandmother had finally gone home to glory to be with our Creator 2 days after Christmas.
• My maternal grandfather's brother passed away on New Year's eve.
• Hubby's maternal grandmother is sick. Same illness as my deceased grandma.
• Went to a cousin engagement and so happy to hear that my sister is also going to be engage this coming May.
• Went house hunting with hubby but came back with nothing. It was a great experience though.

That's what happened to me since the hiatus. There was sadness through the end of the year 2011 but still life has to go on. That is how the life cycle goes.

Ok people, got to go now. Sengsara sa mo menaip di tablet ni. HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR AND HAVE A PROSPEROUS DRAGON YEAR!!!!

Thursday Ramblings

3 more days before Christmas and I really can't wait to be back to my hometown for our double celebration this year, the SUGGGITian Family Day and Christmas Party. I realized that the spirit of celebrating Christmas this year is a bit different from previous years, simply because I no longer had to worry about going back to West Malaysia. For the past 3 years, I had no chance to celebrate Christmas with families and friends because my school's meeting was held a day after Christmas every year. Macam sengaja saja... That's why I must went back early and attend the meeting. Oh I hated it very much.. But, thank God this year and hopefully for years to come, I will be celebrating Christmas and New Year here in my lovely place surrounded by families and friends. Hubby feels the same way too, saying that he is really in the mood of shopping for Christmas this year. Sebab bini dia dekat sudah kali tu kan...

Our preparation is very simple. We bought new clothes for the celebration and set up the mini Christmas tree at my hometown and decorated it with my DIY felt Christmas ornaments which look exactly like this.

Photo by David Prince (family circle)

Hubby and I also sponsored 2 hampers for the upcoming Family Day and Christmas party's lucky draw. It was so much fun selecting what we wanted to be in the hampers and that's why we spent so much time in Servay yesterday selecting and buying the best things we can afford. We decided to make our own instead of buying the ready made one. Just for the fun and satisfaction I guess. In the end, the hampers turned out to be like this... boleh lah bah kampung-kampung kan..

I'm taking a huge risk this year to perm my hair at home. Just adding volumes to my thin and fine hair with the help of my sister. Since I always feel disappointed whenever I go to any saloon to have a new hairdo, I think I better do it myself than losing so much money on a very frustrating result. Hopefully, the outcome won't hurt me. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I will be doing the last Christmas shopping tomorrow after sending the SBPA form to school. Taking about school, it will be reopen in few more days.. oh saya sangat malas.. boleh ka mo cuti lagi???!!!

Till then everyone... Don't drink and drive.

Wishing all of you a Merry Merry Christmas and A Happy Happy New Year..