We lost our father last week, on Wednesday, 8th August at 9:30 a.m. Papa had been ill for 21 years but the news still came to us as a shock. Nothing really prepares you for losing a parent.
I had been mulling over what to write this week. I wasn’t sure whether to share the news, or to just write another post with English tips and lessons. But in respect of our father’s passing, I believe that a mention of him would be best. But I’ll keep this brief.
As we all gathered in Kelantan last week, Papa’s childhood friends came over to visit. Azimah asked them to share what our late father was like when he was younger. Among the stories they shared was that Papa loved to collect English comic books, particularly Beano and Dandy. They would go to his house whenever those comics would arrive, freshly ordered from Kuala Lumpur. It was by reading those comics that helped Papa and his friends master English.
Hearing this story made me smile as I remember that Papa bought these comics for us, too. He was the one that had a huge influence in our own English-learning journey. And now here we are, passing on our love of learning the language to help many more.
Al-fatihah for Papa.
Let me end this post with an “exercise” for you. If you have lost a parent, or both parents, send them a prayer today. If you still have a parent, or both parents, express your appreciation for them. Call and talk to them – even if it’s for only 10 minutes. Put a smile on their face. I know, life gets busy, but you never know when your last conversation with them will be.
Have a great day and we’ll talk to you in our next post.
