Last Thursday night I got a call from one of my sister-in-laws in Melaka informing me that our father-in-law was in a serious condition and was not expected to last much longer. My father-in-law has been ill since 28th December 2004 after a second stroke that left him paralysed from the neck down on his right side and since 25 February 2005, he's been in a nursing home. It has been a touch and go situation since then and many of his sons find this very annoying and a blasted inconvenience to them as they have to work, etc, etc.
My husband, 15 months old daughter and I went home to see him on Friday afternoon after my hubby went for an appointment (job is important too!) and after my 15 months old got her chicken pox vaccination. Driving back this time seemed dismal as the skies were heavy with rain and all the way from Petaling Jaya to Melaka, my hubby had to drive in the rains which ranged from a slight drizzle to torrential pour. I learnt a new trick from hubby on how to beat poor visibility from the sheets of rain that were lashing the highways. All he did was put on his sunshades and presto! Visibility was good! Smart man my hubby!
Reaching Melaka, we went home to our house to unload all our luggage (when one travels with a 15 months old, luggages are a lot!) before going to see my father-in-law. The prognosis was bad but the old guy is still alive and hanging on tenaciously to his life. My mother-in-law had asked her daughter to go to the temple and seek divine advise from the fortune sticks that you shake from a bamboo holder as well as ask the monk to read from the "Sum Sei Shi" a book that purportedly tells of your past, present and future as well as when you are going to die. The prediction was that the old guy would not survive till 3 October 2005 and if he did, he would not live beyond 15 october 2005.
Well it is 5 October today and my father-in-law is still hanging on. Will the prediction come true? There has been other predictions since he fell in from the same monk and each time, my father-in-law has proven him wrong. My hubby predicts that his dad will go sometime in December for since 23 December 2003 till now, his dad's strokes have occured all in December.
So we'll just wait and see if the monk wins or is the art of chinese divination, feng shui and taboos are real or just plain cow dung!
Have a good week everyone and spare a prayer for a man who is longing to die but it is just not his time. Dio benedire tu (God bless you in Italian).
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