The Engagement

Izrin getting pep talk from Pak Anjang Mahir watched by brothers-in law, Hazri and Justin.













My brothers. Left: Ahmad Mahir, two of Haidi's uncles, my brothers Ahmad Fuad (2nd left) and Ahmad Zainal Ariffin (right) at Haidi's house.










The gift bearers, my daughters and nieces.














At Haidi's house with her mother and relatives.










I drew a sigh of relief that Izrin's engagement was over without a hitch. It was a family affair on both sides, a simple one. I was glad majority of my siblings were able to come with their sons/daughters-in-laws and children. I gave up learning to know the names of my grandnephews and grandnieces - so many. My gratitude to my brother, Ahmad Mahir who represented my family as a spokesperson in the ceremony and is good at it as he has been the strong person and the spokesperson in such ceremonies. During the doa, he shed tears for he still has regrets in his heart for not being able to ask forgiveness from my parents fully.He reminded all the young people there to care for the parents. I hope my children and my nieces and nephews understood his message. I know how he feels, regret will be with you till your old age if you have unfinished business with your parents. I still carry some remorse too and it's quite painful at times. My thanks to Juriah also for preparing the hantaran. I just wish every member of my family was able to come and it would be more fun as a family gathering.


The family members before we left to Haidi's house.






Justin and Arif (Juriah's son-in-law) functioned as the photographers. Izrin had a tough time recalling who his cousins-in-laws are. The ceremony ended about 1 pm with lunch and everyone dispersed to his/her own homes, leaving my house quiet again. Poor Mok! He just disappeared and hid himself outside under the bushy plants, away from strangers and noise of human beings. He was confused. Queen Raisa, was a natural. She was not bothered and remained inside, resting at her usual place.

After resting a while, in the evening I visited my friend again to continue with hypnosis. Her condition doesn't look good as her bony body creates join pains when she lies on one side. I just wish I could do more to help. It's really painful to see her but she is lucky, she has a devoted husband who takes care of her. Her children are so caring too, a daughter sleeps with her every night and a son comes home everyday leaving his own house to be with his mother. She is blessed with good fortune in that sense and I pray they give her courage to manage her pains. I just hope the one hour or so, I was with her, relaxing her, she was able to relax and forgot her suffering for that duration. Even though in her condition, her memory is still intact and was able to answer my questions. Before hypnosis, I just talked describing to her Izrin's engagement party and she listened and understood. May Allah help her to lessen her suffering and giving her courage to fight the disease.

As I told my daughter, Ika, my friend knows her fate but I don't know mine. I don't know what's in store for me except that I have acute angle-closed glaucoma on both eyes which not many people suffer from it. That's my fate to date but I thank God for giving me the energy and the sanity of mind to go through life as usual. So make full use of your life before life leaves you.