THEN IT WAS ONLY ONE BUT NOW THERE ARE TWO

Since she mis-sat on the chair on her verandah and fell down hard on her buttock on the wooden floor of the verandah some three months ago, she has not been able to stand up, let alone walk.

She has been lazy-chair-ridden since that fateful fall.

Immediately after the fall she was taken on an ambulance to Kemaman Hospital. X-ray and other tests showed that she only suffered from soft-tissue injury, no broken bones.

There were only bad bruises on the inner side of her thigh.

She complained of great pain and her right leg could not bear weight at all. She had to use her left leg to scoop up her right one whenevr she wanted to move up or move down her legs from the lazy chair.

I have tried to motivate her to use her leg again, but she refused. It was just too painful for her, she said.

She also said that she was not comfortable in the bed. She preferred the lazy chair. It was just pitiful seeing her to do everything on the lazy chair - bathing, praying, sleeping, resting and even answering the call of nature.

If then only my father was bed-ridden, now it looked like we have our mother in similar condition but instead of bed-ridden, she was lazy-chair-ridden.

Our father has accepted his condition and does not complain much. His patience is admirable.

On the other hand, our mother, because of the sudden change, finds it very difficult to accept the fact that she may not be able to ever walk again.

We are praying very hard so that she could walk again, but from the look of things, she may not be able to do so unless she herself fights back.

Pity Roseyati, our youngest sister, she has to quit her job just to look after our mother's needs. She is the only one amonmg us patient enough and well-liked by mother to look after her.

I try my best to be around her whenever I am free, listening to her non-stop chat, reminiscing of those yesteryears. Her body language told us that she loves it whenever we are around.

Our father is not choosy as far as food is concerned. He eats almost everything that we served him. Mother, on the other hand, tends to be picky and choosy about food and at the same time her appetite is not as good as father's.

Because of that she becomes very emaciated fast. Father remains as he is, he does not experience much weight loss.

To ALLAH we pray that He give us patience and perseverence to be able to look after our mother and father well in this time of great testing. Please give us courage and wisdom to handle two of most beloved persons in their old age.

Please also give them patience, grit and determination to face the great test of ALLAH and may they continue be happy and submit to the will of ALLAH. Amin...