A tribute to J

There are a few primary school friends who made it to my brain, as a part of my memory. As a kid, I grew up in Sri Petaling. My earliest memories lie in there. I remember a store called Value Plus, a cake shop named Merry cake, the roti canai stall run by an abang with the mole, the new Bukit Jalil stadium where my mom and I would go for a jog at night...Some of the geographical landmarks are now gone, while some remain.

So J was one of the few people whom I could remember, a childhood friend. At school, there was a singing contest. Students who wished to participate had to go for an audition; where we pick a song, and sing a few lines. Teachers would then shortlist who will perform on stage later on. J was the only person that I could remember participating in that singing contest. I even remember her song selection; it was Siti Nurhaliza's Diari Hatimu song. That son was a hit at the time. Of course, she sang beautifully, and she then ended up winning third or fourth in that singing contest.

And then I remembered going to her birthday party. I couldn't remember how old we were, but she invited me to that party. I was so nervous about going to that party because I did not prepare a birthday gift for her. I told mum about it. Then she went to her make up table drawer and took out a small gold necklace. She said I could give that necklace to her. I was so happy that I could not wait to go to the party. When it was unwrapping-gifts time, I was so nervous. I couldn't really remember what her reaction was, but I'm sure she liked it.

Those two are the memories that I have of J. She passed away a few weeks ago from a brain tumour. I find it irony as I have just completed my neurosurgical term. I see neurosurgeons removing brain tumours almost every day. No one died. But she did.

I visited her Facebook page just now. It felt strange, in many ways. As I scrolled down, passing the condolences posts, to older posts, there were birthday wishes, dated March this year.

Innalillahiwainnailaihiroji'un.

"Tiap-tiap yang bernyawa pasti akan merasai mati. Kami akan menguji kamu  dengan keburukan dan kebaikan sebagai cubaan (yang sebenar-benarnya). Dan hanya kepada Kamilah kamu dikembalikan"

Al-Anbiyaa':35