Wednesday, August 12, 2009

DALAM KENANGAN

My late father Hj Zakaria Ahmad died 27 years ago. I was just starting out in life at 32. I had one son then, Rafeq. That would be his first grandson from me. People closed to him called him "Pok Mudo". I don't know how or why he is called so.


My second son Raqim was born a week after he died. He started life difficult, as a fisherman. At an early age, I had a taste of the life of a fisherman's son. He prospered and life got better, much better. Alhamdulillah. However I never had much opportunity to serve him.

At the time of his death, my late father left his wife (my mother) at age 57. She was known to us as "Mek". People closed to her will call her "Mok Mudo", obviously an extention of her late husband's "Pok Mudo" title.

Halimah bt Mohamad, my mother, survived him for 27 years. On 4th Aug 2009, my mother passed away at age 84.

At the time of her death, she had mothered 9 surviving children - 2 boys and 7 girls. I am 4th in line, but the oldest boy. The 9 children gave their mother 33 grandchildren. The grandchildren further gave their grandmother 36 great grandchildren. So all in, there are 78 of us. I contributed 4 to the statistics.

When my wife delivered Rafeq, our first baby in 1978, she was there together with my late mother-in-law.


Then, we were living in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. My elder sister, Ramlah had a house a few doors away from mine in Taman Tun. Conveniently, my mother would commute to and fro from both houses. When I had my second son Raqim, my mother occasionally stayed in within her travelling routine visiting her other children.



I cannot recall accurately how long she stayed in the family house in Kg Dalam Rhu, Tumpat after my father's death. When most of her children moved out of Kelantan seeking livelihood outside, she would spend plenty of times travelling and living with her children.

When I moved to Subang Jaya in 1988, she lived with me. It was a good 5 years, living together with my mother-in-law. As my daughter wrote in her blog, it was the exciting period of two affable ladies living together. Most time it would be my late mother-in-law in her bahasa baku Johor trying to decipher what my mother was trying to say in her deepest Kelantanese loghat! Over the years, my late mother improved her bahasa baku with 2 or 3 English words thrown in!

My 4 children had been lucky. They had their grandmothers to dote them, both living together in the same house.


My late mother-in-law died earlier in Oct 2003


Also in her blog, my youngest daughter recalled her moments with my late mother by the beach in PD. Well Mimi, that's you (in your swimsuit) with Mek, frolicking in the water.


And that's Ila with Mek.

As she grew older, she decided it was time for her to return home. We got her a full-time maid to attend to her daily needs. Most times, she would stay in my brother's house in Kota Bharu, alternating with the other childrens' house. I returned regularly to visit her. My last visit was on 7th July 2009.

My mother died at 8:40pm on Tuesday 4th August, 2009. ALL her children and the in-laws, most of her grandchildren and great grandchildren were by her side when she breathed her final breath.




Al-Fatihah

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

well written abah!:). and nice pictures too.

nadya.s said...

salam takziah dari nad utk pakramli & family. may she rest in peace and allah bless her soul always

al-fatihah.

ARZ said...

salam Nad,

TQ. You still have your parents. Berbaktilah kpd mereka selalu

Anonymous said...

Innalillahiwainnalillahirojiun,
takziah dari saja TJ as you call me.
Still recognised her from the photo.To stay together with her 'besan' in one house, for five years,she must be some extra ordinary lady.
Moga beliau bersama orang orang yang di redhai hidupnya.
TJ

AMJ said...

Salam takziah Pak Ramli. Ibu kawe masih ada.Kawe rasa sedih baca cerita demo. Minggu depe kawe kelik kampung tengok ibu sebelum bule puoso.

ARZ said...

Akum TJ,

Been a while since you last drop in. I kind of missed you and wondering where you are!

Surely my mother's menantu (my wife) should also be given credit. Buke sene nok dok nga natu tino wei!!

ARZ said...

AMJ,

While you still have your mom, plese kelik often. Jange dok main gof sokmo!!!

Ainun H said...

Innalillahi wainnailaihirajiun.

Salam Che Ramli,

Ucapan takziah kepada Che Ramli sekeluarga. Semoga beliau bersama-sama orang yg beriman. Amat beruntunglah arwah yg mempunyai anak-anak & cucu cicit yg sayang kepadanya.

ARZ said...

Wassalam Ainun,

Nice to hear from U. Tq for introducing me to a great man - your Dad!

I too would be very proud to have parents like yours.

cakapaje said...

Salam bro,

Well written, indeed! I believe, you must have already drawn your family tree. But if you have not, perhaps then, its time.

ARZ said...

Salam CAKAPAJE

You read my mind well. I've just started the family tree only 2 days ago, using a free software MYHERITAGE. It's great and very user friendly.

Have you done yours?

Al-Manar said...

ARZ

Would you be surprised that somewhere in the tree, before you reach Adam, some of your branches lean over to mine?

Sekali lagi, salaam dan takziah

Pakcik

oops did I just say that? said...

abah..Thank god my pictures are not horrendous this time...

abah, I think there is another picture of me in a blue swimsuit at another beach.is there?

ibu doesnt think I can remember at that age..but I know I can remember some parts.

ARZ said...

Pak Cik,

I'm still updating the family tree, especially upwards as far as someone senior can recall. That'll mean going back to meet the older relatives.

If somewhere along the tree a branch would lean to yours, that's a blessing.

ARZ said...

Mimi,

I do know that you have a magnetic mind, hence your capacity to recall is amazing.

A blue swimsuit with Mek at the beach? Didn't stumble on such pics

June said...

lovely words, brought tears to me .. and lovely pics too .. brought a smile to see the kids so small and young !! she's where she belongs !!

ARZ said...

Thanks June for everything.

aofuad said...

OP ARZ,
You have been a good son and it makes a lot of difference.
Takziah dari saya.

ARZ said...

OP Azudin,
It's the duty of every child. I asked for forgiveness where I hv erred.

rosy_rosyrose said...

Takziah. I was in your class back in 2007. I make a presentation on my dad who had cancer. I lost my dad too about 50 days ago to heart failure. He recovered from cancer. Semoga roh your arwah mom and my dad dicucuri rahmah dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang solehah. Amin