Goodbye Uncle

8pm. Albert called. Uncle has passed away this morning.

It began some five years ago. He suffered from kidney failure. His condition deteriorated. First his toes were amputated. Then his foot. Then he became blinded. His lonely days were spent in a 'care home' in Johore Bahru.

My mother, already in her old age, visited him faithfully every fortnight for the past 5 years. The travelling takes half a day.

He longed to die. The dialysis was painful and draining. Death was better than living. In the last one week, he was in hospital. He could hear, but could not talk, as he was breathing from his mouth.

He had suffered enough. Now he is free from pain. Goodbye uncle.