I await aidil fitri with trepidation. It's been this way for a while. Somehow, something bleak happens just before Eid rolls around.
This time around, my grandnephew met his maker almost 3 weeks ago - the only baby in my large family who had never set foot into his family home. Who didn't get to wear even a piece of his new clothes - except for booties. Who many family members got to meet for the very first time...as a corpse.
It's very, very difficult to bury the young. We've buried two young adults before this. However, the pain is always new. Always intense. Always heart wrenching.
For years we've balked at staying home come raya. We haven't received raya guests since mak passed on. Raya morning would see us locking our home and driving off to wherever our fancy took us. Last year was Perak.
This year, we've decided to chase gloom and despondency out of our home. We've been running for too long. We're going to open our doors again. We're going to invite people into our home. We're going to make new memories.
There's no way we'll ever be able to forget our dear departed. But we're going to remember the happy moments that we shared with them. A sort of wake I guess.
There's no stopping the tears. There'll always be sights, sounds, smells that'll trigger memories. But at least there'll be smiles along with the tears.
The lights are up. The house is all spick and span. The buffet station in a line.
The stage is set....to lighten our hearts.....
SALAM AIDIL FITRI. MAAF ZAHIR BATIN.
