Farewell....for now

This weekend was a 'free' one in my appointment book...and I was looking forward to it after a very tiring week with many clinic slots. However, on Friday morning I was informed that my aunt who has been in hospital for over two months, passed on, early that morning.

The wake was held yesterday, the funeral service today. Relatives came from as far as Malacca and Singapore. These are times when the family gathers and I had not seen some of my cousins and an uncle for several years! It was a time of catching up with them, finding out our whereabouts and so on, and some of our children meeting up.

There was a sense of loss, yet not gloom in the atmosphere. My aunt was a Christian as were her daughters and their spouses. Permeating through the sense of loss was also a 'living hope'. My dear uncle, eighty one years old, might have a harder time through his grief, as he has yet to trust in the Lord. Their little grandson of five years would also have his own way of dealing with the loss of his beloved 'por por'.

So it has been an 'emotional' weekend in some ways - of gladness to meet up, of bidding a sad farewell to a relative, even if we have not been very close over the years. Also gladness that a number of relatives who would not be in a church otherwise, did attend and heard the Christian message about death. The pastor's message to my relief was not overtly evangelistic - and yet he brought home the beliefs we hold - "death is not the end but a beginning, death is not a loss but a gain, death is not defeat but victory". Yes, we shall meet again, in His time.