To my Uncle

Please take some time to read this. I should've blogged about this earlier, but I just didn't know how to put it into a blog.

My Down syndrome Uncle (nicknamed Noo-noo by the family), the one I blogged about before in some previous blog posts, died last week Saturday night at University Hospital. He was in ICU and his condition never improved. The doctors said that he would probably last for another day or two, and that we'd better be prepared.

When I visited him in the hospital when he was still alive, my mom took off his oxygen mask for a while. In a cheerful voice I said hi to him, smiling... holding his hand. Then he looked at me and spoke two words which broke my heart... "Mei-mei". He always called me "mei-mei". I can remember a few years ago, when he was still healthy, we used to watch TV together and he would pat my head and smile.. and call me "mei-mei". He was really fond of me. He watched me grow up and he played a big role in my childhood. He taught me how to love and understand people like him, he was always smiling and brightened me up when I was moody.

On the day he died, my mom was out buying Noo-noo nice clothes to wear when he leaves. I was at my dad's place. The only one who was beside Noo-noo when he died was my second uncle from Johor. My mom called me and told me the news and the whole family went to the hospital. When I saw him lying motionless on the mattress and all wrapped up, I broke down. There he was, now gone. No more before-bed-fights between me and him. Throwing pillows at each other back and fourth. No more Noo-noo playing his electronic organ at the back when I came home from school....Life would never be the same without Noo-noo. I was probably the one out of the whole family who cried the most.

The next day was his funeral. Just 10 of us from the family attended, and Noo-noo's therapist. 2 monks came and did some praying sessions for Noo-noo. Then Noo-noo was cremated. I was the last to say bye. Noo-noo's therapist didn't cry, but I could see in his face that he was just as sad as all of us. If it wasn't for him Noo-noo would not have been singing. Yesterday when I came home from school, the house seemed empty, then I was about to ask "where's Noo-noo??" when I remembered.

To my dear uncle....

The uncle who was always there to lighten up my mood when I was sad

The uncle who watched me grow up and loved me so much

To my dear uncle....

The uncle who sang cheerfully in his own way when the whole house was quiet

The uncle who saved a lot of my old exercise books by drawing in them everyday

To my dear uncle....

The uncle who was brought into our family to teach us a lesson

I'm sorry if I never spent enough time with you

If I ever hurt you in any way.

I hope you're happy now, in Nirvana

Looking down at me and smiling.

You will always be in my heart

I love and miss you.

Love Mei-mei

The uncle and his niece a.k.a Noo-noo and Mei-mei