A Mother’s Wish and A Very Sad Ending

My paternal aunt who passed away last Tuesday had just one surviving son. Her second son passed away several years back due to an illness. Her husband passed away years ago when the two boys were still very small. So, for all intents and purposes there were only the two of them as family. Except that we, her nephews and nieces, were close to her and was her immediate family.

The surviving son???? For some reason or other he could not be found. Ever since the operation we were trying to find this cousin of ours and no one could locate him. Calls to his phone were not answered, sms’s sent were not acknowledged. Apparently one close associate of his managed to meet him once and informed him of his mum’s operation. However he never made an effort to see his mother. All of us wondered what has happened to this young man. To the last day, all efforts to locate him failed. The late mother must be pining for her son although she had never asked any of us about him. We can almost detect the sadness in her face. We dared not broach the subject with her lest it saddens her further. So it was us who kept around her as often as we could and hope to cheer her up but alas we know it is not the same as having her own flesh and blood with her.

Why am I writing this? It is not to for the reason of opening bare the family’s negativities but to share the importance of family ties. I asked myself many times why this son does not make an effort to take care of his mother and every time I conclude that he, perhaps, had never been exposed to positive family values. The times when we interacted with him, although he is very much younger than me, younger than my children even, I noticed that he did not display positive family values. I learned that the only times he visited his mother were when he needed something from her and not for other reasons.

Strong family values, apart from other positive life values, need to be ingrained in a person from young and it has to be developed as one grows older. This, I think, was what was missing with this young man. May the Almighty guide this young man and forgive him for his misdeeds towards his mum and may she rest in peace. I wish he has access to computers and with that has access to my blog and perhaps read this posting. Who knows, this message may stir him to realization. May the Almighty shower forgiveness to my late aunt and may she rest in peace, Amin ya Rabbul Alamin.

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya