Ong Ah Mah

That's my grandmother. Truly a generous, and loving person... 1 grandmother who keeps up with the times :)

Almost 6.5years ago, she battled against the most fatal of the 4 types of malaria which naturally developed into pnemonia cos she was confined to the bed for almost 2 weeks. We were so close to losing her but with prayers and faith from all her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, other family members, relatives and friends, she did not let us down. She showed us her ever-strong will power to live on and recovered in no time :)

I recall the most critical moment when everything and everyone seemed messed up. I just told my mum I was going out for a while and she didn't even seem to mind... it was JB and I was going off on my own... I've never done something like this before...

That morning, mum, and a few of her sisters came to join me for breakfast in a little eating house just opposite the hospital (I spend the nite at the hospital just in case of any emergencies while the rest of the family went home to get some sleep). There was some kinda miscommunication which led to misinterpretation which was obviously crucial and depressing... In almost an instance, all of them got off their seats and rushed over to the hospital leaving me on my own to finish my prata. My heart was heavy and my appetite left me... still I stuffed my mouth with as much prata as I could, gulped a mouthful of my teh tarik kurang manis (less sugar) and ran across the road... eyes red and teary...

I got into a cab and told the driver to take me to the Church where I was baptised as a baby... told him to hurry cos I had no time to waste. The moment I alighted from the cab, I walked hurriedly towards the tall statue of Mother Mary. She was standing outside the Church building. Under that blazing sun, I fell on my knees tearfully in prayer. I prayed for intervention of the current situation with Ong Ah Mah. I prayed the Rosary and at some point, I opened my eyes and I saw this Indian man sitting rather close by and he was looking at me. I quickly closed my eyes and continued praying adding in a prayer for protection for I had no clue whether the man was intending to harm me. When i finished my prayers, I noticed he was still there, so I tried to hurry off and got a little worried when there were no cabs stopping for me. Thankfully, a cab came by soon after I muttered yet another short prayer.

A priest friend who visited her in the ICU then, recently asked how is she. He was pleasantly amazed to hear Ong Ah Mah just celebrated her 81st birthday in September this year. Truly it is amazing how she managed thru the years since.

Now Ong Ah Mah is staying with me for these few days till my 8th aunt comes to pick her up. Last Friday I drove in to JB to pick her up cos she got invited to a wedding dinner. I see her meddling with her feet... resulting in them looking bloody and raw... it pains me to even look at it yet, we can only say so much to her in hope that she leaves the wounds to heal... well it did at one time but soon her fingers felt the itch again so there she started again... Last Saturday nite when no one was home, I swept the whole house and mopped it twice. There were bits and pieces of dried skin on the sofa and on the floor of the kitchen and the living room. There were trails of blood too at these 2 places.

Earlier this evening when I was watching TV with her, I peeped at her feet from the corner of my eye... it was red... wet and raw... My heart crumbled... I wish and pray she will let it heal on its own. I know its hard, there are times even I struggle with such a temptation to scratch where I'm not supposed to. We all are guilty of that too at some point...

In times like these, Lord, give us the strength to overcome this temptation and distract us with more worthy matters.