Final wreath count was 34. Bro and I were saying, we'd prefer if 60% of the wreaths were converted to cash instead, these wreaths weren't cheap! But it really brightened the place up, and made it all flowery-smelling. haha. In between visitors we would constantly brainstorm on the best arrangement for the wreaths. :-) The wreaths were sent by individuals, churches, companies, government offices, and.. unknown people. We were puzzled with some of the senders, no idea what connection they had with dad, especially certain companies.
Today, when the white roses were distributed to everyone, there weren't enough. So they started pulling out white roses from a very beautiful wreath! There weren't enough umbrellas to go around too, many had to walk under the sun on the way to the crematorium. I don't know what my dad ever did to deserve such attention during death, but I'm proud of him. :-)
(Of course, the funeral parlour must have thought he was one rich man looking at the people and wreaths, they tried to fleece us. But that's another story.)
At night, there were so so many strangers to us who attended his funeral. Extra chairs had to be arranged, we weren't expecting so many. My mom estimated a conservative figure of 30 people to attend the service.
Because my contact number was in the obituary, I received phone call after phone call, sms after sms expressing condolences for the passing of my dad. Erm, and many had enquiries about the funeral details. Haha, my bad, I've never written an obituary before this, and I had to do it in a rush on Thursday night. When I saw the obituary I realised I forgot to add his age/DOB-something NOBODY misses out. Oh well. Young forever.
This morning, the pastor decided to surprise us by getting a 5-man band to play. Hahaha, this was really awesome. I've never been to a funeral with a band before, although I know some people do hire bands. It was a pleasant surprise for us.
And the funeral seemed to be a reunion for many people. People who came because they knew me/dad/mom/bro met up with THEIR friends who came because they knew my dad/mom/bro/me.
I've never felt so much joy during a funeral before, and I thank God everything went well. I may never understand why God took dad away when I'm not even (financially) capable of giving mom a comfortable life just yet, but I believe He has His plans that will work out for the best. Now I've got to learn the ropes to handling all the computer/internet stuff.. that's all I'll have to learn for now, I think.
I've been so busy with everything the past few days, when everything is calm again, I know reality will set in. I'm bracing myself for that. Things are like a surreal nightmare the past 3 days, and I think I'm still hoping I'll wake up from this bad dream. It'll take a long time to heal, I only pray that somehow God will heal mom's hurt quickly, there's nothing I can do to hasten her healing process. :-( She was such a wonderful nurse to dad. Whenever I talked to dad and asked him what he wanted, if he said he didn't want anything, I'll ask him if he wants mom, just to get him to want something. He always said yes, and I would joyfully call mom away from whatever she was doing just to please him. hehe. I know she would have loved to nurse him for another 30 years, without ONCE considering him a burden. But God answered our prayers, to heal him completely, or to take him home. Everyone, including nurses and doctors, were surprised at his rapid deterioration, but said despite his extremely weak state, it was amazing that he was not uncomfortable/constantly in pain.
You know there are decisions you regret for life, and decisions you will never regret. I decided to skip guitar class at 6pm on Thursday evening, simply because I knew mom wanted me around that day, after Hospice gave the news that dad simply had a maximum of 2 days. At 7.10pm, dad went back to be with the Lord, and I was the one who discovered he had gone off peacefully. Had I not been home at that hour, and been with my mom when we checked to see if dad was really gone.. it would have been a decision I would regret for life. (You should have seen the two of us, checking for pulse, breath, heartbeat..) The first thing that escaped my mom's mouth after we confirmed dad was gone was, "Praise the Lord! He went off so easily and peacefully, no more pain." Talk about faith!
Thank you, Lord, for perfect timing. No one but my dad would have the presence of mind to die in the midst of a pastor. LOL. The pastor went out to buy dinner for mom and I, and dad left while he was away, so we didn't have to make any phone calls when dad went off. We just waited for him to return, and told him. Then he handled EVERYTHING. All we did was inform some people, and the news spread like wild-fire. By 8.15pm, or thereabout, my house was packed with people. From family, to dad's friends, to my friends, to mom's friends. No one seemed afraid of a dead man, so many cried over him. Talking about perfect timing, we could have the wake on Friday evening, and the funeral on Saturday, so that those who wanted to travel from afar didn't have to take leave etc. Not to mention that when the Nirvana van came to take dad away, it was late at night (10.45pm cause people wanted to rush over to look at him one last time), so no nosy neighbours around. It may seem like sheer coincidences to you, but if you were in my shoes you'd really understand about perfect timing.
And technically, we were together as a family when dad went off. I was chatting to bro(who was waiting for the flight back to M'sia, he booked earlier that day cause dad was really weak) when dad left. Looking back at my chatlog, 7.08pm we were msning normally, 7.09pm he replied something, 7.10pm I told him dad stopped breathing.
The only thing I didn't like was.. the man lying the the coffin wasn't my dad. They shaved off his MUSTACHE.. I'd never seen my dad without it before in my whole entire life. My mom too. Besides that, his face just looked so so different. My first thought was, 'That's not MY dad!' But after scrutinising, I realised it was him.. it was the familiar ears, hair, eyebrows, and neck. But perhaps, it reminded me that what I was looking at was a mere shell, and dad's in the arms of our heavenly Dad. :-) The man in the coffin looked like a very young man, and really, I cannot see my dad in him. That's why I hardly bothered to look into the coffin, just glances here and there. I will remember him by the memories I have of him alive.
All in all, Dad just had the most awesome funeral ever, and I'm glad for him. Last night people were talking, and saying that those who humble themselves will be exalted. Truly, dad's funeral reflected that.
Thank you, to everyone who showed their support. On my part, my school teachers, schoolmates, classmates, friends, parents of friends, the KL/PJ LYPG, and of course, my beloved church. :-) I was surprised to see some of you, but that just makes the surprise sweeter. :-)
I'm not too sure how life will go on from now, but dad has ensured we'd go on living well enough, especially in terms of our relationship to one another. We'd always, always been a close-knit family, and this will come in especially useful now.
Guess dad let go of this earthly life without a fight because he knew we'd be all right by ourselves.
2 Timothy 4:7 says,
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Love ya, dad. Enjoy heaven, k?
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