Starting it with an ending...

Sheesh, got up at 5 this morning. Took off at 6:15. Drove my dad to Bandung (a city south of Jakarta) for exactly one hour and 45 minutes (there are no speed limit in Indonesia, so 140 km/hr all the way). Arrived at my grandma's at 8. Dozing off to 11.

Got a call from my best friend. Her "Opung" (oh poong) - that's grandma for all you people out there - just passed out. An hour later, Opung's in a coma, heart beat still stable but no response at all from the eyes. They took her to the hospital, while my friend submitted to babysitting her nephews. At 3:30 I drove home. Got a call at the tool booth just outside Bandung. It's her again, this time more frantic than before. "Me and all of my family are going to spend the night at the hospital so I have to take all the "camping" needs there. The doctor said that opung's critical. Wait, there's a call from my dad. Talk to you la..."*click*.

Arrived at the front door of my house at 6. Took a shower and drove mom and dad to my aunt's house. Dropped 'em off like a couple of pony express packages at 7 and headed straight to my friend's house. Got a call 10 minutes later, Opung just passed away. Almost hit a motorcycle from that news.

It took an hour and a half to get to her house due to sunday night traffic. Got out of my car at 8:30, greeted by a smiling girl.

What? She's smiling? That ain't right... .

"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Reaaaalllyyy okaay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Nuttin, so, how are you holdin up?"
"Dunno, haven't cried yet. They're taking her body home as we speak."

I know that she's the strongest woman I've ever known. But I didn't know that she was THIS strong. So I decided to help out her family arranging the chairs for the arriving mourners. Her mom also shows no sign of sadness. Like mother, like daughter, eh? Her dad? Well... I can see tear marks on his eyes, but not much. That's also relatively strong, considering that he just lost his mother... . When they took Opung home, that's when the crying started, especially from the extended family.

Opung was rested in the middle of the living room full of people. Some were crying, some were drown in deep thoughts, some were singing praises to God. Me? I'm just remembering the old times. My first impression of Opung was that she's a portrait of a true Batak woman. Never beats around the bushes, strong willed, signs of aging aplenty but still manage to visit her sons and daughters on a weekly basis. But the thing that sticks to me the most to this very day is that she always welcomes me with arms wide open. Every time I went to her house to pick up her granddaughter, (who at one time, was my steady girlfriend) I feel accepted as her own family, although we didn't share the same religion (in most Indonesian family -especially mine- this is a very sensitive matter).

We're gonna miss you Opung. I'm gonna miss you.