Another Goodbye

I received a telephone call this morning from Kuala Lumpur. My sister called to let me know that our aunt, my late father's only sister, had passed away early this morning.

The last time I saw her was during the Chinese New Year when we went to visit and wish her a Happy New Year as is our custom. She looked well although a little older. She had been wheel chair bound for the last few years but her mind was still alert. This year however, she tended to meander in her thoughts and was prone to repeating herself every few minutes. She could not remember that my father had passed on ten years ago and kept asking after him. When told of his demise, she shed tears. A few minutes later, she would ask after him again.

I guess when we grow old ( she's well into her eighties ) our memories become fuddled. My father, in his last couple of years, could not remember some of his grandchildren. He was quite cross to see "strangers" going upstairs in his house. Forgetting things that we are supposed to do, not remembering dates, etc are par for the course when we move into the senior stage of our lives. Exercising our brain daily is said to be very important if we do not want to lose our brain cells more quickly than we are supposed to. Thus one can find among us, those who do crossword puzzles, sudoku, play card games, etc just to keep the grey matter functioning for as long as possible.

My aunt could never pronounce my name and she would call me Peh Kee ( "aeroplane" ) instead of Peggy and my younger brother Robert as Phau Phau (" chubby" ). We were the two who always accompanied our paternal grandma to aunty's house in Port Klang during weekends or school holidays when we were young. My other siblings went to our maternal grandma's house.

My aunt has 3 sons and one daughter, Linda. She stayed with Linda. Her sons have done very well, one in the UK, another in Australia and one closeby at home in Malaysia. Linda runs her own business.

Goodbye, aunty Ah Tay. You have gone home to join the clan and I'm sure you will see your brother and other half-siblings. Yes, we are a huge clan, having 5 grandmothers and loads of relatives and cousins, many of whom are strangers to me as we've never met. This year so far, two aunts have left us, one was Posy's aunt and now, my aunt. Posy's aunt and my aunt were half-sisters. Our grandfather was their father but they had different mothers. Tonight my siblings who stay in Kuala Lumpur will pay their last respects on our family's behalf.