阿公，永别了
"Hey are u in the car with parents?" was the sms I got from my sister at 9.55pm. About the time I finished my dinner.
"No. I am leaving school area soon and going home. Why?" was my reply.
"Ah Gong passed away at 8.54pm."
I immediately called up my sis and asked where they are.
And thus, I rushed down to CGH. Along the way, we exchanged smses of the plans and situation over at CGH. I had to rush over. The undertakers were arriving to take Ah Gong to the coffin shop.
When I reached Paya Lebar, the undertakers had already arrived and took Ah Gong with them. I managed to arrive at around 10.40pm after dashing from the MRT station to the hospital in the rain. My uncles were over at the mortuary and my sis and cousin had left with my parents to pick up some of Ah Gong's clothes, dentures, specs and other stuff.
"Ask the counter to bring u to the LAST OFFICE. Our uncles should be there. We will be coming back to CGH after picking up Ah Gong's stuff." was my sister's reply to my situation.
So I rushed to the information counter.
Me: "Uncle, you know where is the last office?"
Man at counter: "There's a last office in every ward. Which one are you refering to?"
Me: "Ward 44."
Man at counter: "Oh, the death at Ward 44 ah? You go up and ask the nurses. They will bring you there."
Me: "Ok, thanks."
I went up and the ward was close and there was no nurses in sight. I called up my sister.
"Call up 4th uncle. He will tell you where to wait." was my sis's reply.
So I dialled for 4th uncle.
"4th uncle, where are yor?"
"We are at the mortuary. Wait for your parents at the taxi stand and we will all go down together to the coffin shop."
"Orh."
So I stood at the taxi stand. Wait and wait and wait. Finally, I saw my uncles coming down. 1st,3th,4th and 5th uncle will leave with my cousin first. 2rd uncle and me will wait for my parents to return with the clothes. At around 11.20pm, my parents came and picked us up. We were then on our way to the coffin shop.
**At the coffin shop**
The adults were all busy over the coffin selection and the procedures of the coming funeral. While my sister and I just stood at the side.
Boss of shop:" Come over everyone, we have cleaned up your grandpa, do come over and see him for the last time before we put him into the coffin."
在那小小的空间里，有一张和人体一般大小的铁床。上面躺的便是阿公。
脸依然的慈祥，但瘦弱的身体明显地提醒我们，阿公是受了那么多年的折腾。
阿公旁边放了个小小的播音机。播放的是阿公喜欢听的佛歌。
棺材店的老板：“来，大家进来。大家一定要和你的爸爸，阿公说，今晚要来这里。明晚就要回自己的家。”
看着长辈们个个低头默念。心里的那份伤感，要藏也藏不住。
舅舅们开始落泪的那一刻，我哭了。
二舅舅向前，望着阿公：“爸，可以好好走了。好不好？”
那一刻，大家都哭了。因为大家都知道，阿公其实一直在等一个人。就是远在香港的二叔公，也就是阿公的弟弟。二叔公已经尽量在最快的时间飞回了，但是明天才会到的他，还是来迟了一步。
**At my grandma's place**
After finishing what we had to do over at the coffin shop, everyone headed over to my grandma's place to put up red paper (to cover up altars and reflective surfaces) help arrange timings for tmr and other stuff.
By the time we left, it was almost 2am.
On the way home, while in the car, I actually started to recall how active Ah Gong used to be before he became bedridden 4 yrs ago. How he used to go around the house, picking up the tiniest bit of dust and going for his daily morning jogs. How me and Julian (my cousin) used to tease him of the black mole behind his back and say it looked like a piece of dirt. How he used to nag at us for running around after meals. How we used to rollerblade around the old people's corner down the void deck when Ah Gong was playing chess with other elders.
阿公，一路上，要走好。我们真的会想念你的。
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