My mom was a hale and hearty person. I took her for medical check-up and was given a clean bill of health.
One day, she got a bad flu. My two sons were 6 years and 4 years old then. She stayed with my eldest sister. Being old people, they dislike seeing doctors unless absolutely necessary.
After seeing a GP twice, her health suddenly deteroriate badly. On the last day, she can’t even walk to the gate to greet my 4 years old. He refused to get down from the school van without my mom carrying him. So, I heard she struggled to the door so that he would allow my sister to bring him down.
I was working then and at that period, I was very busy arranging my bosses to fly on Business Class in an entourage with the PM. It is a big deal and hence, I couldn’t get leave.
That evening itself, my mom suddenly got into breathing difficulties. I rushed her to the hospital after I got home from work. Her condition was stabilised and she was watching Mr. Bean and laughing. She reminded that the next day is Friday and what I ought to pack for my sons for water play.
We (all my sisters) went home and my eldest brother decided to stay overnight. It is the 2nd time my mom was admitted to the hospital. So, everything was very foreign to her.
At 6 am the next morning, we received a call from my brother-in-law. He said my mom was admitted to ICU. Next 10 minutes, another call came and said she had passed away.
My eldest sister was hysterical. My darling atm broke down. (He did not shed a tear at his own mom’s death.) This is to illustrate how great the loss was to us. Me? I forced myself to stay strong. I did not know how to break the news to my sons if I myself also turned hysterical. Because her passing meant bigger loss to them as they depended on her from babyhood. I was also 6 months pregnant and dare not go into too much stress for fear of losing my baby. (Yeah, I am always very sensible. I have a complex view of things.)
We woke up the kids and told them that Ah Mah has decided to go up to Heaven. Well, they were pretty sensible kids. We took them to my office for me to clear up some mess and then, went to the morgue. We just seemed to fail finding the morgue at Loh Guan Lye. No matter how many people we asked, we just can’t find it. In the end, we decided to just go to my brother’s home to wait for her body.
Maybe it is just an intervention that my children did not have to visit the morgue. I don’t know, I think it happened for a purpose.
To be contd….
When my grandfather passed away,my dad cried like a baby. That was very heart wrenching. When the burial day for my grandfather arrived,as a chinese custom we have to accompany the coffin car (is that what they call it??) to the main road. Again,my dad broke down. To face a death in my family is a great loss. I never knew how important my grandfather was before he passes away. Anyway,what is past is past.