MY MOTHER

She was so skinny. I could clearly feel all her bones as I hugged her. I always made it a point to give her a gentle hug whenever we met.

She did not eat anything much these days. "Things get lodged in my throat." That was her topmost complain everytime I told her to eat something.

She was also very fussy at how her food was cooked. It should not be too salty, too tasteless, too oily and too undercooked (especially veges). For this reason her daughters and daughter-in-laws all were very jittery when it came to cooking for her.

Currently she practically survives on half a plate of plain white rice (she normally uses Thai rice) and a deep-fried chicken or Indian mackerel. Baulu Kuala Kemaman was also one of her favourites. I always make it a point to get her supply whenever I go to Kuala Kemaman. She told me she could finish RM5 baulu in a sitting - there is nothing much as it is very light these Kuala Kemaman baulu!

Banana and mangoes are two fruits that she likes. She could no longer take oranges as the fibres would usually get stuck to her throat.

Talking and story telling were her favourites. Whenever we visited her it always end up in us having to hear her many stories - normally revolving around her personal experience and jumping from one story to another without comma or full stop. All we have to do is just to listen and listen we do, without much interruption in between.

Last Sunday we paid her a visit after Zuhur. She was wearing my old blue surgery outfit. My name was still well preserved, right above the pocket. She told me that the shirt suited her well and she still keeps the pant and the head gear.

She is my mother, Siti Aishah bt Ibrahim @ Putih bt Ibrahim. She is 70++ now. She is blessed with 12 children (from two marriages and three of them had passed away - all from her first marriage) and 40+ grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.