We had only a short wink before we knew it was nearly nine in the morning. Grandma's body would be embalmed and returned to us before eleven at the void deck. So we dressed ourselves simply and made our way to Aunty Gek's house, which was a few streets away.
Some of the aunties were already there when Iris and I arrived. Pa and Ma were already there, who had briefly took a short rest at home before coming over, like Iris and myself. Most of them showed a certain weariness from the long night and the emotional loss.
Workers from the funeral services were already pitching the tents and setting up the lights, drinkers chiller, etc., among many other set ups that they had arranged. A young man in the trade with a bluetooth earpiece came along and asked us for the details of the family tree: how many sons and daughters, how many grandchildren, how many sons-in-law, daughters-in-law etc.
We paused for a long while, doing the calculations before realizing that our family is really big, nearing 70 children, grandchildren and great grandchilden in all. Grandma was indeed very blessed.
Before long, grandma's body came along and the uncle in charge, who happened to be related to Jason, took over. He instructed Pa to shelter grandma's body as it was being carried in, while having us kneeled over and crying out for grandma while she was taking her place at the wake.
Prayers were swiftly offered to grandma with the monk leading and chanting. For the first time, I saw how Pa took charge of things, and people were all going to him for decisions and opinions. He soldiered on, even though I knew he was mentally and physically getting tired by the hour.
After all the initial traditions, we finally get to see grandma face to face. Grandma looked peaceful, while the make-up on her was nicely done. Round incense were scattered on her before a golden pearl was put between her lips.
Sadly, I saw that the embalmers have wrapped grandma's right arm with a clear wrap, very possibly due to her skin cancer condition. Nonetheless, we knew grandma has finally been relieved of all these physical pain and aliments she has suffered these years.
Going into the afternoon, Iris and I went back again to our home for a rest before coming back to do the first night duty of attending to the wake. The first night was pretty quiet, as word of my grandma's passing has yet to reach others. Dad in the mean time was busy making sure that things were organized and important decisions were made. Yet the weariness was slowly being to dawn upon him.
The very next day on the second day of the wake, I made a trip to the bank with Aunt Gek after watching the night on the first evening of the wake, before sending my dad and my mum to Yishun to enquire on the resting place for grandma for the first hundred days. We scouted around, made our enquiries before we headed over to Yishun Columbarium where grandpa has been resting for the past 40 over years.
The second evening of the wake saw a lot more guests as they came and offered their last respects to grandma. Iris and I let the others watched the night as we were on rotation shift. On the first night when the few of us were on duty, we struggled to keep awake. Jernice, Ruqing and Iris tried to keep ourselves awake by playing handphone group games while Diona was promptly knocked out shortly after midnight.
My evening and morning duties during the four nights had been tiring, mainly with accounting for the condolences monetary gifts around the stroke of midnight and depositing the money early in the morning. So Iris and I took time whenever we can, for a quick wash up and rest in the afternoons whenever we had the luxury of time.
On and off, I would take time to take a peep at grandma at her resting place whenever I can. That would be the last few times I would be able to see her face to face, except that I could no longer hold her hand and converse with her.
During the five days of the wake, we were all very concerned for Dad as he was running about and busy most of the time. Furthermore, he was manning around during the evenings and watching the night along with us cousins on duty. Thankfully, on the fourth night we managed to persuade him to come to our house to sleep for the night, even though it was only for a short six to eight hours. Nonetheless, it was the first time Dad stepped into our house also, and I was privately delighted.
On the last night of the wake, scores of people came and paid their respect to grandma. While they were having their rites and prayers, about twenty of us gathered behind the tent and prayed for grandma. It was our first time where us Christians gathered together to pray in our languages, whether in English or in Mandarin. It was just a sweet picture of aunties, uncles, nephews and nieces gathering together in unison and in harmony unto the Lord.
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