Another long day/night has just begun.

Mom was really blessed with many good friends and Auntie 少华, her neighbor at fourth floor, was also her trusted ‘chef’. Mom believed that Auntie 少华, herself a cancer survivor, knows what food was good for her. In the last few months, we asked her to help make tonic soup and porridge for Mom. She also did marketing for my family during this difficult period.

Mom had very tiny veins and that made drawing blood very difficult. I think Cing Sian Nem, a young nurse from Myanmar, must have spent an hour that night just looking for the right one to poke.

If you stayed long enough in an oncology ward, you would sooner or later get used to the fact the every other day, someone will pass away. A few times, when her neighbors were close to the end of their roads, I tried drawing the curtain to shelter Mom. But she would always tell me that it was okay.

Champion – footwear for the fighter, chosen by my nephew who found it in the wet market.

Mom’s favorite visitor had to be her only grandson Boon Yi​. She looked forward to seeing him and he would often help to finish up the food given by the hospital.

While she was happy to see my brother(left) and brother-in-law, she was also always chasing them to go home and get more rest.

Because of her more flexible schedule, my eldest sister Kay Har​ was the ‘default’ caregiver and spent the most time looking after Mom during her illness.