Goodbyes are never easy......

"Death may indeed be final but the love we share while living is eternal."~ Don Williams,Jr

It has been 12 days since he is gone.

My only paternal Uncle. A man of character, of an independence we ought to model and definitely the only man I know who can joke about losing his two legs.

Uncle Achet is Abah's only brother. Now, he has joined to be with the rest of his seven siblings who had died in either Nenek's womb or did not survive long after birth.

My family has a strong history of diabetes. Nenek has it. Abah has it. His two sisters have it and Arwah Uncle Achet had it. In fact, Uncle Achet had lost both of his legs due to diabetes, one in 2003 and the other in 2010.

But even with both legs amputated, Uncle still lived like normal. He would get on his own-made motochair (a wheelchair with motor! Equipped with radio and license plate!) and rode his way to 888, his favourite hangout. He would set up his own Karaoke and entertained himself. If it had not been for no lift landing to my place, I'm sure Uncle would have come over many, many times. :'(

His laughter was contagious and his jokes would make one fall off the chair easily. That's my Uncle. :) We love our family gatherings because Uncle would be the one to start sharing oh so many stories and 'action'-ed his way about with his motorchair and his daily 'walkabouts'. :)




Nenek's 77th birthday last year. Arwah Uncle with the rest of his siblings and in-laws.


When his own body finally succumbed to diabetes on 14 April 2011 and I was there to witness it, I couldn't help feeling regretful for not holding a family gathering earlier. But I was glad I was there. I saw his strong will to fight his own body. I saw the immense love he has towards Nenek, Aunty Habsah (his wife), his daughters Shida and Nora,his grandchildren and of course his siblings, Abah, Mama (my aunty) and Aunty Jas eventhough the only way he could respond to us was by holding our hands tight and patting us with his left hand.

It was my first time witnessing death.

And it was the death of a loved one.

We love you Uncle. We miss you Uncle. Our family gatherings will never be the same again. There will be tears but we will keep smiling, keep laughing and keep living. Exactly the way you taught us to. The way you showed us to.

Al-Fateha to Haji Abdul Rashid Bin Haji Mohamed Isa.

May Allah love his soul than all of our love for him combined. Amin.