Sometimes you meet extra-ordinary individuals, under the guise of the ordinary life. And I must say, my late mother-in-law is just one of those individuals.
Quiet and unassuming, she always kept to herself and never imposed on anyone. Many would underestimate her strength and character but after listening to many of her stories on her childhood, I knew that she did not have an easy life.
She was orphaned when she was small (both parents passed away when she was still a child), and had never undergone proper schooling and education; even then she never blamed her childhood or circumstances for everything that she went through. Indeed, she fought hard for what she wants; when she was a teen she decided to study Quran recitation properly with a religious teacher and because of that, she had to take a boat to cross the Sarawak river and then walk a couple of miles so that she'd be able to reach the place where the teacher staying. Suffice to say she completed her studies and continued to teach others within her community.
I did not spend much time with her unfortunately, simply because I was too busy with life and the many things that were put upon my shoulders. But within the few years that I knew her, she has been extremely kind to me, and just as loving to Alexa. In our last conversation over the phone, I was leaving for Kuala Lumpur then, just 5 days after Aidilfitri because I had an exam to attend to and she was crying because she didn't get the chance to cook for me. I guess maybe she knew her time was coming to an end. She was hospitalised just over a week later and succumbed to her illness on the 18th of August 2015. She passed away just a little over a year after my late father-in-law.
I could only hope that I would be able to be the kind of mother that she was, strong, patient and pious. She never had a bad word to say about anyone. Even when others treated her badly (there were many incidences in the past), she would forgive them and leave the matters to Allah. May Allah place her in the highest level of Jannah and protect her from the trials of the grave. Ameen.
Al Fatihah Mak, Hajah Dayang Aieshah Awang Hamid, 1946 - 2015.
xoxo Mrs Fashionista
Quiet and unassuming, she always kept to herself and never imposed on anyone. Many would underestimate her strength and character but after listening to many of her stories on her childhood, I knew that she did not have an easy life.
She was orphaned when she was small (both parents passed away when she was still a child), and had never undergone proper schooling and education; even then she never blamed her childhood or circumstances for everything that she went through. Indeed, she fought hard for what she wants; when she was a teen she decided to study Quran recitation properly with a religious teacher and because of that, she had to take a boat to cross the Sarawak river and then walk a couple of miles so that she'd be able to reach the place where the teacher staying. Suffice to say she completed her studies and continued to teach others within her community.
I did not spend much time with her unfortunately, simply because I was too busy with life and the many things that were put upon my shoulders. But within the few years that I knew her, she has been extremely kind to me, and just as loving to Alexa. In our last conversation over the phone, I was leaving for Kuala Lumpur then, just 5 days after Aidilfitri because I had an exam to attend to and she was crying because she didn't get the chance to cook for me. I guess maybe she knew her time was coming to an end. She was hospitalised just over a week later and succumbed to her illness on the 18th of August 2015. She passed away just a little over a year after my late father-in-law.
Alexa with my sister-in-law, late mother-in-law, and brother-in-law just two months before she passed away.
I could only hope that I would be able to be the kind of mother that she was, strong, patient and pious. She never had a bad word to say about anyone. Even when others treated her badly (there were many incidences in the past), she would forgive them and leave the matters to Allah. May Allah place her in the highest level of Jannah and protect her from the trials of the grave. Ameen.
Al Fatihah Mak, Hajah Dayang Aieshah Awang Hamid, 1946 - 2015.
xoxo Mrs Fashionista
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