For the second consecutive day yesterday, Kuala Lumpur was swamped by what Mum used to call “cheong meng yee” loosely translated to mean unending rain. It rained and it rained. Heaven was weeping again. “For what,” I wondered.
The phone rang. It was Dee.
“Have you heard the news?” she asked.
“What news?” I was perplexed.
“No one told you yet?”
This definitely cannot be good.
And Dee broke the news. It was totally unanticipated. I was lost for words. For a very long time, I tried to speak but no words came out. Dee was silent at the other end too.
Muffins! All I could think of were muffins. Freshly baked muffins. The aroma. The sweetness. My eyes began to tear. Cute little poses. Fingers on cheeks. Her voice. Her vivacity. It all came back in a deluge like the rain that have been pelting the city for the whole afternoon. Then came the pain. That numb throbbing pain.
Val, you were the good friend whom I met only twice. Nevertheless, your energy and exuberance stuck in my mind since that second meeting. You had those cute poses for different expressions. I told you that I am going to make you teach me the next time we meet. I mourn for that lost opportunity.
And muffins. I have yet to taste those yummy muffins you enticed me so with. The next time and the time after next when I bite into a muffin, I shall think of you. I shall think of how you infected me with your oodles of energy. And that is how I want to remember you by – sweet, funny, vibrant, warm and infectious.
Where once was darkness, light has overtaken. Where once was shackled, you are now free.
I shall miss you dearly.
May the Lord have mercy on your soul.
Related entry:
Goodbye Val
I can feel the kind of bonding that have developed in the blogsphere. It is indeed sad to lose a friend so suddenly. Only time will heal but I am sure she will not be forgotten for what she represent.
Thank you for letting me in on the news. I don’t know.. I am still shocked. I suppose, just hearing and not seeing, in a way, has caused me to believe that she is still around. Chirpy and cheery, and smiling and cute. Yeah, that is how I would always want to remember her by too.