Every Sunday morning at church, there's a grandma sitting at the very back who would give me a hug and kisses on my cheeks. Sometimes she brought me chocolates or candies, wrapped them up in small plastic bags and slipped them into my palm as she kissed me.
She sat at the back because she used a cane and had trouble walking. If we looked at each other from afar she would wave her hands at me and gave me her sweetest smile. Oma Hartati was one of my highlight on Sunday service but God loved her more. She passed away last Saturday day night after celebrating her 86th birthday on September 3rd. And I didn't realize just how much I would miss seeing her until she's gone.
And this brought back so many memories of those who had left us lately. I was so taken aback by the fact that death always left us astounded no matter how close or how far we are from it. Even the death of people we don't know personally would still leave us overwhelmed, in disbelief.
Last year I got to watch Tohoshinki's TONE Tour at Osaka-jo Hall. I had a hard time in obtaining the tickets but I had help from a Japanese girl that went by with the name t-hikari (or hikari-chan by her online friends) who posted a complete info on how tickets were sold in Japan. I sent her a few messages and she kindly replied with info and a kind wish. In the end someone else got me the tickets but I still got to read her LJ every now and then and she kept replying to my comments.
Imagine the shock when I read messages & twits on June 11th that that she had passed away the day before after battling breast cancer for a couple of years, and just before she started a new series of chemo. To be honest, I really enjoyed reading her amusing LJ posts about our beloved duo. And right after the announcement of her passing by her sister, she also deleted all of her posts because it hurt her too much read all the happy words that she had written, reflecting her real self as a devoted fan. I can totally understand that though I wished I had saved some of her writings just to have a laughter or two.
Every encounter has its own memories. And I'm glad that I have shared a happy memory with both Oma Hartati and hikari-chan. It's not whether you know someone in the flesh or how well you know someone to feel the loss through death. It still hurts.
No matter how much we hurt, life goes on for the living. I'll miss them both, but I'll be smiling when I remembered how happy they had been and they had made me no matter how short the time we knew each other.
I'll miss your hugs and kisses Oma Hartati, till we meet again in heaven!
And thank you for the sweet memory and the chance to get to know you, hikari-chan! You'll always be remembered when I look at our boys :)
Every encounter has its own memories. And I'm glad that I have shared a happy memory with both Oma Hartati and hikari-chan. It's not whether you know someone in the flesh or how well you know someone to feel the loss through death. It still hurts.
No matter how much we hurt, life goes on for the living. I'll miss them both, but I'll be smiling when I remembered how happy they had been and they had made me no matter how short the time we knew each other.
I'll miss your hugs and kisses Oma Hartati, till we meet again in heaven!
And thank you for the sweet memory and the chance to get to know you, hikari-chan! You'll always be remembered when I look at our boys :)
WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR OURSELVES ALONE DIES WITH US; WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR OTHERS AND THE WORLD REMAINS AND IS IMMORTAL.
- Albert Pike -
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