Bidding farewell to a loved one

"To my beloved grandmother, you shall forever live in our memories, and you will be sorely missed..."

My grandmother passed away at 0625, 26th October 2006 in General Hospital Ipoh wad 8B.
None of us were by her bedside as it was too early in the morning. Only the Indonesian maid which we hired to look after her was by her bedside during her last moments.

This is something which will haunt me and my eldest cousin for the rest of our lives. You see, we visited her at midnight the night before, and the nurse did tell us that from her experience patients with such symptoms will not lasts either the night or the next day. My cousin wanted to take my grandma home but decided against it later as no doctor was around to sign her letter of release. For me, I was silently rejecting the idea that we were bringing her home to await for death, and I didn't want to face the possibility that my grandmother was leaving us. But at 0630 in the morning, a loud bang on my door jerked me from my sleep, and the next 10 minutes was a daze as we rushed to get dressed and rushed to the hospital.

I was the first one to arrive at her bedside. Both sides of the curtains were drawn, and I will never forget the scene that stopped me in my track. Lying on the bed, was a body wrapped in white. My legs would not move, and my heartbeat dropped at the sight. Tears started to rush down my face as I stared helplessly at my grandma's lifeless body. I did not have the courage to unwrap the white cloth, secretly I was already hating myself for being so late. I suspect that this guilt of not being to send my grandma off will haunt me for a long long time to come..

The funeral was held 2 days later. While we slowly come to reality of my grandma's death, I have to admit that at times I was pretending that she is merely away somewhere to lessen the pain. Sudden gushes of pain and sadness engulfed us for the 2 days. I could not look at my grandma's body, lying in the coffin, without a tear in my eyes.

But, at least, she is no longer suffering. Wherever she is now, I hope she is happy, and know that we will always remember and love her. She was one strong lady, and never have I met another person whose fighting spirit matches hers.

To all my friends and colleagues who sent their condolences, I thank you for your support during this difficult time. The mere effort of reaching out to me during this difficult time meant alot and I thank you sincerely. Here, I am sharing with you all the support I received in the last few days.

"Our dear Almighty God. On this day, You've reminded us that You are in control of things that happened in our lives. We as Your humble children could only pray to You for Your strength and guidance upon our lives. I come before You this day to ask for Your shoulder of comfort to be upon my dear sister, Susan whose grandma has returned to you O Lord. I too ask for Your forgiveness upon her sins and that You'll bless her soul so that she could rest in peace for eternity. May You provide strength to Susan and auntie Monica during this difficult time as they mourn their loss of their beloved grandma and mother. I thank you for each day of our lives and humbly ask for Your love and blessings upon our lives. May Your guardian angel watch over Susan and the rest of the families as they travel on the road to bid farewell to our dearest Po Po. In Jesus name, Amen."
Andrew

"She was a strong lady."
Jassy

"Deepest condolences to you and your family. May God bless her soul and may she rest in peace."
Ben

"I am sorry to hear that your grandmother passed away. Take care."
Dominic

"Our deepest condolence on the demise of your granny. From all your friends at Boustead."
Pat

"Sorry to hear that your grandmother passed away and my deepest sympathy."
Kin Ko

"My deepest condolences to you and your family. May God grant you peace and comfort. Hugs."
Cheryl

"Sorry to hear that. Our condolences to you and family."
Yong CK

"Would like to send my deepest condolence upon hearing your grandmother passed away. My well wishes to you and may your grandmother rest in peace."
KS

"May God strengthen you and your family in this time of loss. With deepest condolences on the demise of your beloved grandma."
Jim

"My condolences on the passing of your grandmother. Take care."
GM

"My condolences to you. Be strong. We are all GOD's creation."
Fariz

"Wishing you hope in the midst of sorrow, Comfort in the midst of pain with heartfelt sympathy."
Sumitha

Thank you.