Have you attended a funeral and thought, no.. I am not going to cry because the person who passed on does not have that much emotional impact over you.
And then you thought wrong and you ended up bawling as if that person meant the world.
Well I was at one of those funerals today. It was my cousin's funeral. A cousin whom I haven't seen in years. He was my uncle's eldest son. And this uncle's family has not been attending Raya gatherings, relative's weddings, or even my late grandmother's funeral. Yes, estranged would be the word to describe it.
My cousin died of drug overdose - a concoction of sleeping pills and God-knows-what. To make things worse, they found his decomposed body, alone in a hotel room, sitting up, with the TV and air-con on. Doctors estimate that he has been dead for more than 10 days. He was 26.
When the talkin was recited, it seemed that my mind went back to the days when I used to babysit this little innocent, baby cousin of mine. We were nine years apart, and his parents used to send him to my grandparents' house for free day care. And I was the one who had to help my aunt take care of him, put him to sleep, prepare his formula, watched cartoons with him.
And today, he's bundled up in white cloth, lined with plastic - the condition of his body too horrific for me to even describe here.
I sat behind his wife, near to his mother - they tried to hold back tears during the talkin but only ended up crying until their whole bodies shivered. And I did too, silently.
Goodbye, Azlan. I hope you did not die in vain.
My friends, dear readers, this is not the way to die. So stay off drugs. You think you're in control, but don't play with fire. I beg you.
4 comments:
I never knew he existed. But I helped lift his body to his grave because I thought this was the little kid you used to look after.
Some people think they can do drugs and still be in control of themselves. Some people think that nothing will ever happen to them. They will never realise when they are no longer in control of themselves when it happens. By then it's too late. Worse still, most of these people are well-educated, well-brought up; yet they succumb to surrounding pressure; that it should be okay 'cos I won't take that much. Then one day they fry their brain cells.
I wish these motherfuckers would attend the funerals of those who go down that way, and see the grief others have to go thru not because of their stupidity, but their refusal to use their wisdom.
yea the only memory i have of him is the time when he was little. i didn't even know he was married.
i like this..
SD, I really appreciate you taking time off from work to be at the funeral. Yes, that's how it starts - thinking that you won't get addicted. And that's what exactly happened with Arwah. And look where he is now.
Za, I know...I met his wife once a couple of years back, but he wasn't around at that time. Sigh.
Azrangi, thank you for dropping by :)
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