A long 12 day stretch after

I cant wait to share my Europe Honeymoon photos. Really.

Sometimes there are happenings in your life that you wished didnt happen. Such was the case for my wife and i. As soon as we touched down Singapore, we set a goal to vet through the photos we took from the trip and have the nicer ones developed for everyone to envy.

Grandma-in-law( PO PO ) was diagnosed with lung cancer somewhere in mid May and her condition was rather bleak. I remembered on the day when we finally reached home and sunk into bed, she called my wife and mentioned something really out of this world. It was then i realised that she was mildy senile and wasnt the PO PO i used to know.... PO PO came into my life the moment my wife and i got together in 1999. While i am not a relative of PO PO by blood, i could easily tell that my wife shares a very unique relationship with her, one that is more than just a grandma-granddaughter bond. Every time when i send my wife( gf back then )home, PO PO would find all opportunity to ask about me, my health, my studies and how my dad is doing. Though i never knew how to speak Hakkah, it never stopped her from wanting to know more about me. This was still the case even when i finally married my wife in December 2008.


The Sunday that followed, my wife visited PO PO. I guessed my wife must be really worried and at the back of my mind, i sensed that she feared for the worst. I wasnt around because of my shift. Again, PO PO started asking things that didnt exist. That late evening when my wife finally had the chance to share encounter with me, i became petrified.


My wife made it a point to go down the following Tuesday to stay over at her Mum's( PO PO stays there too ). I dutifully had the clothings packed for my wife and i planned to fetch her there after work. I remembered it was around 535pm that i left my house, already starving since my early lunch, thinking what i wanted to eat. The moment i reached my wife's work place, i called her and ask about plans for dinner. She sounded rather jittery on the line but somehow i didnt think much.

A few minutes later, i saw my wife walking out of her office lobby, signing to me that PO PO passed on...Immediately my mind was in a blank and i only knew that we must rush home.

The next 4 days that followed was the longest in my life. We sat through Grandma's wake and bade farewell to her on the last day in Mandai Crematorium. Something i will never forget was that faithful night when my wife and i stayed up for the night to watch over the wake. The stories that my wife shared was something that made me realised how dearly she missed PO PO.

Today, we ( my wife and i, plus her parents, uncles, aunts and cousins ) said our last prayers to Grandma as her urn was carefully placed in the niche in St Francis of Assisi. I felt a sense of relief that this 4 long day of sadness and dreadfulness finally came to an end.

Rest in peace PO PO. May you be happy with all the Saints and Angels in Heaven. We love you.