Christy

Good evening Uncles, Aunties, Cousins, Friends, Brothers & Sisters In-Christ.

Thank you so much for your presence, wreaths, condolences, donations, and prayer support during our bereavement for mum.

Mum had contracted liver cancer in Dec 2007. Through God’s grace, both my parents accepted Christ as their personal savior on 1 Jan 2008. Since then, they had been worshipping regularly every Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church Hokkien Service till the last two weeks when mum was too weak to attend service.

On Thursday night, 2 Apr 2009 I received a call from my 4th sister that mum was unconscious. Immediately, we packed and went to the airport about 1-1/2 hour before the midnight flight’s departure from Shanghai to Singapore. Fortunately, there were 2 seats available though not together as it was a full flight. My daughter was reluctant to go on the flight as she is not used to sitting alone on an airplane. But I told her we had to go. After the doors of the airplane closed, the air steward whom I had requested earlier for 2 seats together told me that we could move to the two seats at the front with longer leg room. My daughter was so glad as she could lie on mummy throughout the flight. The Lord’s grace is indeed amazing. He gifted the seats to us otherwise I could not imagine how Christy could sit alone throughout the whole flight.

Mum had actually waited for second sister, my eldest brother’s and my return. We returned first in the morning of Friday, 3 Apr 2009. My sister and her daughter returned from Australia in the afternoon. As for my eldest brother, he was not able to return in time to see mum for the last time and also to attend the funeral as the ship that he was working on, was at the Red Sea. We managed to contact him later that evening and he spoke to Mum for the last time.

Throughout the day, mum could only respond to us by shaking her left foot to indicate “Yes to something we asked” which my youngest sister told her to do. As mum loved “Coca Cola”, we asked her to indicate by moving her left foot if she wanted to drink “Coca Cola”. Surprisingly, she shook her left foot vigorously so we fed her “Coca Cola”. We could see that she was enjoying the drink by the way she was sipping it. This was why my eldest niece placed a can of “Coca Cola” on the table in front of mum’s funeral photo.

My eldest niece graduated last year. Instead of looking for a job, she chose to care for “Ah Ma” (Grandma) full time. None of us had asked her to. Her care and love for mum had put the children to shame. She was so gentle and attentive in her care and love for mum that the HCA Hospice Care who provided medical and nursing care for mum at home, would like to recruit her.

She placed alarms at her bedside, toilet, and dining table where mum usually moved around the house. Another person I would like to mention is our helper who has been with us for 7 years. She is truly a gem. She cleaned, bathed mum, and even put moisturizer for her. She would wheel her to hospital, church, and anywhere mum want to visit. Mum was indeed blessed to have my niece and helper cared for her throughout her illness.

Next day, 4 Apr 2009 at 6am, my 4th sister and eldest niece woke me as they were not sure if mum was in pain or breathless. My sisters and eldest niece did the night vigil while I did the day shift as we kept 24-hour vigil at mum’s bed side. They asked if they could give morphine drops to mum. When I looked at mum, I told them it should be alright as the morphine drops were to relieve her breathing.

Surprisingly, after mum was fed with the morphine drops, my 4th sister and eldest niece laid down to rest. My 3rd sister was with me. As it’s already morning, I washed up and went to mum’s bed side to pray for her. I prayed in our dialect, Teochew for about half hour till about 7:00 am. In fact, it was my longest prayer ever in Teochew. I was actually surprised that I could pray for such a long time in our dialect which I am not proficient. Just before I ended the prayer, I saw a vision of Christ carrying mum with both hands. The vision really comforted me. When I said “Amen” at the end of the prayer, mum also said “Amen” that surprised both my 3rd sister who was standing at the end of the bed and myself. Also, just before my prayer ended, mum’s toxic blood was slowly drained off from a small tube inserted through her nose.

My 3rd sister had to leave to fetch my brother in-law at 7:00 am. Suddenly, I realized that I was the only one awoke accompanying mum. All this while, the DVD player was playing Hokkien (also a Chinese dialect) hymns in the background. The music disc was given to my parents from a brother in-Christ. I took the lyrics book to try to sing-a-long for mum. At first, I tried to sing in Hokkien by reading the Romanized English letters. However, as my Hokkien is so limited, I did not understand the meaning. So I tried to sing the hymns in Mandarin instead. Surprisingly, when the song played the hymn, “牵我的手我的主啊“, translated “Hold my hand, My Lord”, the vision of Christ carrying mum appeared again. I looked at mum. To me, she was sleeping soundly and sweetly.

A week ago, I was back in Singapore for our niece wedding. Mum was very bony but when I saw her sleeping, she seemed to have put some weight on her face. Also, her hands had become smoother than before. I did not want to wake mum as she had kept awake since Thursday to wait for our return and was exhausted. Instead I just stroke her fingers and continued with the singing of the hymns.

Then the next hymn, “十字架…我的罪都洗清洁, 惟靠耶稣宝血” translated “At the Cross, my sin is cleansed by the blood of Christ” was playing. When I sang, I just felt that Christ was telling me in a small voice that He had taken mum away. I looked at mum again. She looked to me like she was sleeping. I stroke her fingers and they were warm.

Then the next hymn, “我们带着感恩心,来到了神的家中”, translated “With a grateful heart, we arrived at the Lord’s home” was played. My sister had alerted me that mum’s last sign of death would be vomiting of blood. But there was no such sign. At that time, I had a strange feeling the Lord was telling me that He had just taken mum home.

I could not believe that mum had left with the Lord as there was no sign of blood or her struggling. Immediately, I felt for her pulse. It felt like she was breathing. Then, I felt for pulse at her right neck. By then, I am not too sure if she was breathing or not.

As mum had stayed awake for almost 24 hours awaiting for our return, I wanted her to rest so I did not try to wake her. Instead I called my 4th sister. My 4th sister is smarter than me. She felt her nose for breath. Her scream for mum brought all the people into the room. Mum’s body and hands were still warm. I was actually quite surprised how calm and peaceful mum had left with the Lord without my knowledge. The peace I had at that time also surprised me as I did not even know mum had left with the Lord. To me, she was sleeping. If I was not prompted by the hymns and the visions, I would have sung till the end of the last song on the disc.

It’s only on the 3rd day of mum’s demise that it dawned on me that the Lord not only took mum away peacefully during her sleep but the Lord had also graciously prepared me for the loss of mum with the peace that transcends all understanding.

God is indeed merciful and gracious to mum that she did not suffer much pain throughout the year’s ordeal, except for breathlessness during her last days. Mum had enjoyed much love, friendship, and fellowship with the brothers and sisters in-Christ for the past year. I know mum is now with the Lord and I know we will meet her again. Mum, we miss you. You will stay in our hearts forever.