I've been delaying this post for two months now.

On August 7th, 2008, I lost my grandfather. Unfortunately, I never really had the chance to get to know him well. He had two strokes while I was still in primary school. So I've always remembered him to be sickly. And it's only recently that I'm staying in KL permanently; before this I moved around.

There are few things that I do know about him; smoking was probably the only thing that kept him going. And my grandmother. Boy did he love her. I remember this one time when my grandmother came over to Penang and he called about five times every single day, asking her to come back. =) I wonder if my grandmother misses those phone calls now.

He taught me how to play cards. Yeah, he was good at that. Before he fell sick, he used to finish up the crossword puzzle everyday.

Every single day he used to ask for the date. He was always waiting for the 21st of every month, as that's the day that his pension money was banked in. Then when the day comes, the first thing he'll ask is for my grandma to buy a pack of cigarettes. =/ Haha it was funny though, how he'd wait for that day eagerly.

This year my parents decided to visit the place he grew up in. No one knows a thing of his past; all we know is that he studied in MCKK (Malay College Kuala Kangsar) and took his bachelors at Otago University, New Zealand. He's from Rembau; his dad was a headmaster (I think). All that's left of his family now are his three sisters; his brothers have all passed away. And they're all buried at the same graveyard too.

Another thing about my grandfather; he always asks "How are you?" even when he's sick. As though other people's well being mattered more than him being sick. I am glad I got the chance to take care of him when he was in the hospital. I was complacent with him passing; it wasn't unexpected and I think all of us can say that we did our part in making it easier for him. It's not like we weren't sad, don't get me wrong. It's just that we didn't have any regrets with him.


That's how he usually looks like, with a stony face. Haha. This picture was taken in 2006. The guy wearing white, my cousin Danial, he's the closest cucu(grandchild) to him. Used to take him to the mosque for Friday prayers without fail. People remember him for it. Needless to say, my grandfather's passing hits him hard.


That's his expression whenever he hears a joke (sometimes he gets amused even with the lamest ones). It's rare, and adorable. =)

Suffice to say, it's strange not having him around for Raya. We used to make him do silly poses during Raya, and we'd try our best to make him smile for the camera.

One thing good that came out of his passing was that it brought everyone closer together. The six older cousins you see in the first picture are close like no one's business now; we stay over at our grandma's house every weekend. And my mom sees her sisters and brother all the time.

Strange, I had to mark my last Raya before going to Canada (InsyaAllah) without my grandfather around. But it was a good one. But that's for another time.

Sedekah Al-Fatihah kepada Tok Di; Allahyarham Abdul Rahim bin Abdul Jalal. Semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat Allah.

The family misses your presence every single day.