The second departure in 2010

It was Sunday evening on 7th February. I was already on the PLUS highway heading north to Kuala Lumpur when a text message arrived in my mobile. It was from my wife, informing me of news that an uncle of ours has just passed away.

I stopped at a rest area and then made some phone calls. I called my cousin to get the first-hand news of his father's demise. He told me that he was still at Pontian Hospital and arranging for the body to be brought home to Air Baloi. I then texted my colleague to inform her that I won't be coming to the office the next day.

I resumed my journey but rather than continuing to KL, I exited the highway at Simpang Renggam, turned left towards Benut and onwards to Air Baloi. When I reached my cousin's kampung house, he was not there  yet. It was past 11pm when the hospital van carrying my late uncle's body arrived.

My uncle had not been in good health for quite some time. It was only two weeks earlier that I had a chance meeting with my cousin at Masjid Abu Bakar for Friday prayers and I asked him about his father's health.

I had a look at the death certificate where the doctor had written the COD as pulmonary edema leading to cardiac arrest. In layman's terms, that's an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the lungs leading to a heart failure. My uncle was 81-years old.

Buat Allahyarham Ayahanda Abdul Rahman Bin Rafiee, semuga Allah swt mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh ayahanda dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman. Amin.