Another year passed and onwards into 2017!
Been away too long that to come up with a simple posting for the blog for 2017 proved to be very difficult. Too difficult that for this particular posting, I've been writing, deleting, rewriting and deleting many times that I told myself that on this nite, Wednesday 15th, I should have an article posted on the blog....a welcoming article of sorts.
Big 4-0 this year. Another milestone, certainly a lifetime achievement. A few of my friends didn't make it. I remembered on my mum's 40th birthday, there was none. That year, my maternal grandmother passed on at the age of 63. Dad's mom left in 1977, a few months before I was born, and she was 63 too. Mum was slightly better, at 64. From 40 to 63 is not long, 23 years to be exact. Not that I'm troubled by it, on the contrary, but am thankful that the sessions I had with my dad on being better muslim finally made perfect sense. Nothing new about his advice...more of a reminder actually, but now it really sank in.
It has nothing to do with the age old adage "life begins at 40" but it was motivated by the passing of my mom. I laid her to rest on that fateful day and somehow I would have flashbacks. Back to that moment. I held her head and tilted it towards Kaabah in Mecca, the direction of our solah and apologised if it hurts her. I took the last glimpse of her before we covered her with earth. I had dreams of her and I swear to Allah that sometimes I hear her voice, but I keep it to myself. There were instances when suddenly I said "mama"... and recited the longest surah (Quranic verses) I can remember for her.
Deep down, I will always be her little boy. Dad's advice really sank in and hit home because I really want to see her again.
Welcome 2017...there you have it.
Been away too long that to come up with a simple posting for the blog for 2017 proved to be very difficult. Too difficult that for this particular posting, I've been writing, deleting, rewriting and deleting many times that I told myself that on this nite, Wednesday 15th, I should have an article posted on the blog....a welcoming article of sorts.
Big 4-0 this year. Another milestone, certainly a lifetime achievement. A few of my friends didn't make it. I remembered on my mum's 40th birthday, there was none. That year, my maternal grandmother passed on at the age of 63. Dad's mom left in 1977, a few months before I was born, and she was 63 too. Mum was slightly better, at 64. From 40 to 63 is not long, 23 years to be exact. Not that I'm troubled by it, on the contrary, but am thankful that the sessions I had with my dad on being better muslim finally made perfect sense. Nothing new about his advice...more of a reminder actually, but now it really sank in.
It has nothing to do with the age old adage "life begins at 40" but it was motivated by the passing of my mom. I laid her to rest on that fateful day and somehow I would have flashbacks. Back to that moment. I held her head and tilted it towards Kaabah in Mecca, the direction of our solah and apologised if it hurts her. I took the last glimpse of her before we covered her with earth. I had dreams of her and I swear to Allah that sometimes I hear her voice, but I keep it to myself. There were instances when suddenly I said "mama"... and recited the longest surah (Quranic verses) I can remember for her.
Deep down, I will always be her little boy. Dad's advice really sank in and hit home because I really want to see her again.
Welcome 2017...there you have it.
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| Mum with Ben and Fay |
