On Monday, after I went for an interview - somewhere.. not a job interview.. something else. I decided to go back home after the Assistant Editor of Entertainment Desk at New Straits Times gave me the permission to take a day off. Afterall, it was already almost 2pm and I only had 3 hours left to work so I guess it was no point to drive all the way to Bangsar which would take about 30minutes or less. Depending on the traffic and which route I decided to take..
Anyway, as I reached home, I decided to take a short nap. Well, not really a short nap.. I set my alarm - 5.30pm. As I closed my eyes for less than an hour, someone called. I wanted to ignore at first but it could be an important call so I decided to pick it up.
The dialog below are not the exact words. I couldn't remember wholly what I said:
"Hello?" I said.
"Hello? Elena? This is ----- from -----. I was at ----- just now." she said.
"Oh, hi!" I replied.
Then she introduced herself as my late mother's bestfriend.
I became silent....
.....
She said that she was my late mother's housemate back in the 80s. Before my mother got married. She was very close to my mother..
As she started to explain how she knew my mother, my tears started to drop..
Imagine not meeting someone 'new' that knows your mother well for quite some time? Imagine not listening to new things about your mum for quite some time?
I don't know if she'd notice the change of my voice but seriously, I cried a lot till my nose became blocked.
She told me that my mother's other friend was there (the place I went earlier that day). She said she felt like she wanted to hug me but didn't want people to think that something was going on between us..
I didn't recognize her.. I'm not sure whether I've met her before. But she surely knew my mother well.. And I'm so blessed that God gave me the opportunity to get to know her and my mother's other friend even if it wasn't official.
I texted her yesterday.. confirming her sirname as I spotted her name in my mother's old phone book.. for those who don't know, my mother passed away 11 years ago due to brain haemorrhage when my family and I was living in Hong Kong. I was only 12 at the time.
She replied, "yes, that's my name." And her text continued with: "I felt so blessed that Allah gave me the chance to see you from a distance. And that smile really reminds me of your mum. Dia memang murah senyum and cepat mesra. Hati dia baik, suka tolong orang and sabar ..... and a few other things... and she ended with Nanti kita jumpa ya!"
I havent' stopped reading the text eversince.. the words are beautiful..
This afternoon, she called again.. and talked about my late mother and her work.. And again, I wanted to cry but I was about to enter the NST building so I decided to contain it. About an hour later, the other lady called.. and we spoke about my mother, the tragic incident.. a bit of my current life.. seriously, it was wonderful despite me trying to hold my tears. By then I was at my desk working on a story but I had to leave the table as I knew that I would shed some tears.
So far this week, I've never felt so happy in my entire life.. God has awarded me two beautiful people in my life and I will definitely appreciate them and be in contact at all times.. They are part of my life.. my history.. my mother's life.. her history.. Every single details they know are valuable at this point.
I can't wait to meet them both.. They want to see me after Raya as they want to invite me for lunch.. I can't wait for that.. I'm definitely looking forward to meet them and share stories about my mother..
Thank you Allah..
