26 Years On: Remembering My Late Grandmother, Jariah Binte Salim
Hi All,
On this day, the 13th of September, 2018, marks the 26th anniversary of my late grandmother's passing.
I have yet to learn so much about her and every single time I would get to know her; her attributes, her characteristics, her values and her morals, it gives me a fresher and much deeper sense of love for her.
She passed away four years before I entered the world. My brothers were blessed to have been cradled in her loving arms, fed with her tender hands and loved with her gracious heart.
I could only imagine the sense of immense grief that befell on my family, especially towards my mom on that day as she had her best friend forever - whom wiped away all her tears, knew all of her fears and secrets, lent a listening ear to all her stories and poured her heart out with compassion and love for her - gone to answer God's calling.
Etched deep into her memory, my mom would recall her experience 26 years ago when she received the urgent call from her brother at around 5 a.m., that their mother's health had deteriorated rapidly. My grandmother had been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for a few months. She had been battling with yellow fever and several other diseases for a while and all of her children knew that her time was near, but it still came as a shock for all of them on that Sunday in 1992.
In a frantic hurry, she rushed my brothers and herself down to the hospital, unfortunately they had to wait several minutes before they were successful in hailing down a taxi. It was really a race against time where every second that passed by seemed like minutes or even hours. My mom's heart was beating rapidly and was filled with unnerving anxiety. As soon as she alighted, she dashed with my brothers' hand in her grasps into the ICU but as soon as she was just 2 rooms before reaching her mother's, her brother had just stepped out of the room with his hands covering his face, weeping. He turned his head to my mom and uttered as courageously as he could,
"Mom had just left us."
She knew that her mom was still alive when they dashed into the hospital. She kept reminding herself that if she had made it just a minute earlier, she could have been by her mother's side. She could have been there to say her goodbyes one last time. She could have told her that she loved her so much. But she was too late.
Not long after, all of my mom's siblings arrived in the hospital, this time as orphans, without their dad and now their mom. Funeral processions proceeded smoothly that same evening and my mom and all of her siblings bade their final farewell to their mother as they lowered her body into the grave.
I dare not to ask my mom for more details on that fateful day in 1992, given the sheer emotional scale my late grandmother's passing was for her and for every one who had loved her dearly.
Thank you Arwah Nenek, for everything that you have done. You have raised and nurtured a strong and tender woman in my mom, and also other noble values and characteristics in all of my relatives. I believe that every good that had been brought down to my mom, had also come down to me and God Willing, I will pass them down to my children too.
I have never seen you before, but I pray that I will be able to in the hereafter; may Allah SWT grant you the highest level of Paradise.
On this day, the 13th of September, 2018, marks the 26th anniversary of my late grandmother's passing.
I have yet to learn so much about her and every single time I would get to know her; her attributes, her characteristics, her values and her morals, it gives me a fresher and much deeper sense of love for her.
She passed away four years before I entered the world. My brothers were blessed to have been cradled in her loving arms, fed with her tender hands and loved with her gracious heart.
I could only imagine the sense of immense grief that befell on my family, especially towards my mom on that day as she had her best friend forever - whom wiped away all her tears, knew all of her fears and secrets, lent a listening ear to all her stories and poured her heart out with compassion and love for her - gone to answer God's calling.
Etched deep into her memory, my mom would recall her experience 26 years ago when she received the urgent call from her brother at around 5 a.m., that their mother's health had deteriorated rapidly. My grandmother had been in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for a few months. She had been battling with yellow fever and several other diseases for a while and all of her children knew that her time was near, but it still came as a shock for all of them on that Sunday in 1992.
In a frantic hurry, she rushed my brothers and herself down to the hospital, unfortunately they had to wait several minutes before they were successful in hailing down a taxi. It was really a race against time where every second that passed by seemed like minutes or even hours. My mom's heart was beating rapidly and was filled with unnerving anxiety. As soon as she alighted, she dashed with my brothers' hand in her grasps into the ICU but as soon as she was just 2 rooms before reaching her mother's, her brother had just stepped out of the room with his hands covering his face, weeping. He turned his head to my mom and uttered as courageously as he could,
"Mom had just left us."
She knew that her mom was still alive when they dashed into the hospital. She kept reminding herself that if she had made it just a minute earlier, she could have been by her mother's side. She could have been there to say her goodbyes one last time. She could have told her that she loved her so much. But she was too late.
Not long after, all of my mom's siblings arrived in the hospital, this time as orphans, without their dad and now their mom. Funeral processions proceeded smoothly that same evening and my mom and all of her siblings bade their final farewell to their mother as they lowered her body into the grave.
I dare not to ask my mom for more details on that fateful day in 1992, given the sheer emotional scale my late grandmother's passing was for her and for every one who had loved her dearly.
Thank you Arwah Nenek, for everything that you have done. You have raised and nurtured a strong and tender woman in my mom, and also other noble values and characteristics in all of my relatives. I believe that every good that had been brought down to my mom, had also come down to me and God Willing, I will pass them down to my children too.
I have never seen you before, but I pray that I will be able to in the hereafter; may Allah SWT grant you the highest level of Paradise.
JARIAH BINTE SALIM
1922 - 1992
AL-FATIHAH
Photo courtesy of Free Islamic Calligraphy
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