My grandfather, Haji Abdul Rahman bin Mohamad passed away at 3.26pm on Friday, 28 October 2005 (24 Ramadhan 1426H). Beliau meninggal selepas hampir seminggu di Unit Rawatan Rapi, HUSM di Kota Bharu.

I was in KB earlier this Ramadhan. I never thought that it’d be the last time I see him well and very much alive. I remember bersalam dengan dia and I kissed his old but strong hands. I still consider myself lucky for being able to do that before he passed away. I also left my son in KB, so he’d be able to spend some time with his great grandfather.

My mom said in the morning on the day that he fell sick, my grandpa did some spring cleaning around my house and didn’t even bother to read the newspapers at all. My grandpa never missed reading the newspaper, and he’d have read it by noon in any ordinary day. My late grandpa was a police constable and he can never sit still without doing anything around the house. He was extremely cheerful on that day, according to my family and neighbours. By 6pm, he wanted to climb the stairs to throw some rat poisons but he fell. His body landed on the carpet, but his head missed it and landed on the tiles. He was immediately rushed to HUSM and my eldest sister, who’s a doctor, called me. My other sister and I decided to take a flight to KB the next day. By the time we arrived at HUSM, an operation was already done to remove blood clots from his brain. He remained in ICU and was in a coma until he died 5 days later. Tears fell down his cheeks on his last day. He knew that he was leaving us that day. We didn’t.

Although it is hard to swallow the fact that I no longer have a grandfather, it is consoling to know that he was in a jovial mood before leaving us, and he died on a good day in a good month. He was buried close to my late grandmother’s grave. The only regret that we had was that my late grandfather couldn’t see all his children and grandchildren gathered together when they learned that he was sick. Now, there are still some unresolved family issues but hopefully it will be worked out soon.

Please sedekah al-Fatihah to Haji Abdul Rahman bin Mohamad. Semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat Allah. Amin.