Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Single Dad ?

I've been a single parent for two weeks already. My beloved wife Milah and beloved mum to our brood, is in the Holy City of Makkah. She is accompanied by her sister and brother in law. Why am I not with her ? We could not leave our children (especially two of them) on their own. We have six kids. The eldest is Firdaus. He is married, and both he and his wife work and live in Alor Star,Kedah. They have a three year old son (our only grandson). Our second son is Fahmie. He works and lives in Penang island with his work mates. The third son is Fadzlil. Used to be a very energetic and enterprising youth, but now, because of an unfortunate accident, lies paralysed and confined to his couch or wheel chair. Fourth son is Shahman, finishing his final year at a college in KL. Fifth, and only daughter is Lina, she's in Form Four The youngest is Shafiq , born with Downs Syndrome and totally dependent. He goes to a Day Center for Special Children, not far from home. Its not so hard to handle the domestic chores, after all I used to help my wife...sometimes. Shafiq is quite easy to handle, you just have to understand him. Fadzlil is the one that I really need help with. Even though he can't move his arms and legs (he's quadraplegic) his mind is active and he can grumble and complain and talk like you and me. And he has a good appetite, he eats anything that he likes. Even at night, he would ask for a burger, hotdog or char koeytiau. His body is not like those typical paralysed patients, all shrivelled and loose flesh. His is well fed and muscle toned. The cruncher is when you have to lift him from his bed to the wheelchair. From the wheelchair to his couch in front of the tv set. Carry him again at bath time. After changing him, carry him back to his couch until bed time, which is after the last tv show he watches. I could never lift him by myself, Milah would help me. My two eldest sons, aware of this problem, decided to take leave from work, one at a time. Firdaus took two weeks off, Fahmie will take leave after that until Shahman returns home for his break. And my sons, I'm proud to say are capable cooks as well. So, my dear wife should not worry about us, concentrate on her Haj. Thank you Allah for blessing me with such a loving wife and wonderful children.

12 comments:

cakapaje said...

Salam Pak Shah,

This is a beautiful entry sir. If anything, it shows the unity and love of your family members towards one another; I am touched by the way you and your other sons feel committed to one another, especially towards Fadzil. May Allah s.w.t. bless you and your family.

It may interest you to note that there are several OKU who blogs about their life. Kerp at http://letswheel.blogspot.com/ and pakngah at http://pakngahebook.blogspot.com/, were victims of road accidents while http://waterlilysicksadcity.blogspot.com/ is down with cerebal palsy. These 3 brave individuals record the life they lead, each in their own way.

Please accept my apologies for this long comment.

cakapaje said...

ps. my apologies for missing out on Syafiq.

makdom said...

Hi bro, I guess we're in the same situation, that is without a wife. Mine in UK. I handle Boy and Mox and also the house chores and cooking. Of course your responsibility is much greater. I pray to 'Allah', things will work out fine for you. See you when I'm in Penang next month. "May 'Allah' bless you and the family.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Azyze said...

Uncle Johan,

it is soooo obvious that these ridiculous racist posts were written by the same person.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Lame, lame, lame.

Just delete them, they don't deserve to be on your beautiful blog.

Azyze said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
cakapaje said...

Hmm...my blog and several others too were hit by these spammers. While some, like you, chose to moderate comments, others like me just chose to ignore it.

But I agree with Azyze, these people are lame, at the very least.