After missing out on last year's Ching Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day), which was also my late grandmother's death 1 year anniversary, I had the chance this year to honor it.
I remembered that fateful April evening. I & my younger brother popped over to my uncle's place to have dinner with them. My grandma had just been discharged from the hospital but literally bedridden & unable to move. I'd just worked for a month & was about to fly off overseas on my first assignment. I'd specifically remembered telling my grandma to get well soon so that I can treat her to a meal using my first self-earned paycheck. Sadly, it wasn't even an hour after I kissed her on her forehead & head home, that I'd received a call from my uncle saying that she had passed away. The good news was that she did not have to suffer the years of immobile suffering that her sister had to live through before her own passing.
My uncle later penned a moving poem, dedicated to my grandma. Although I did not live during her era or her hometown Kuala Kangsar, but nearly every line still brings a tear to my eye every time I read this poem. However, my unsuppressed tears... can never compare to what my father feels deep inside when he reads this poem.
I'm glad to see you once again, Ah Ma. You'll always be on my mind too.
I remembered that fateful April evening. I & my younger brother popped over to my uncle's place to have dinner with them. My grandma had just been discharged from the hospital but literally bedridden & unable to move. I'd just worked for a month & was about to fly off overseas on my first assignment. I'd specifically remembered telling my grandma to get well soon so that I can treat her to a meal using my first self-earned paycheck. Sadly, it wasn't even an hour after I kissed her on her forehead & head home, that I'd received a call from my uncle saying that she had passed away. The good news was that she did not have to suffer the years of immobile suffering that her sister had to live through before her own passing.
My uncle later penned a moving poem, dedicated to my grandma. Although I did not live during her era or her hometown Kuala Kangsar, but nearly every line still brings a tear to my eye every time I read this poem. However, my unsuppressed tears... can never compare to what my father feels deep inside when he reads this poem.
I'm glad to see you once again, Ah Ma. You'll always be on my mind too.
~ ~
And so you leave us one last time,
Back to your little town you love so well.
Down by the river, did you say?
Waiting by the simpang, taking in the sights.
O dearest mother of mine,
dressed in kebaya you look so fine.
Wasn't it yesterday you were the belle,
KK's very own has come back to town.
It seems you know everybody in sight,
they call and wave & stop to chat.
Isn't that goh ee & luck ee too?
And you better watch out 'cos cee ee's about.
Oh, don't worry, she can't hurt you.
You are in the realm of eternal peace;
no pain no suffering, only joy.
I see your smile as you greet ah ma,
you are back together after all these years.
And so you will cook for her as you have cook for us.
All those dishes that only you know how.
That would have been nice to leave behind but your knitties are precious anyhow.
Go in peace, Mother Dear.
Your slog your grit I can't repay.
Your legacy is your love for us.
And that will always stay.
WE LOVE YOU, MOM!
Wait for me down by the river too...
~End~
