You Will Be Missed

  

Today morning, I had a dream that a lady was stabbed in the stomach. So we had to rush her to the hospital. The dream was broken by a phone call from my mother who said that she has a terrible news. I immediately understood. Our Aunty, was no more. She died this morning around the same time as I was having that nightmare. 

The one thing I’ll remember about her is that she always smiled.  A beautiful woman, who always wore a beautiful smile on her face. Her hairstyle. It was so very ‘her’. She looked like a pop star from the 80’s. I don’t remember her putting on any make up ever. She didn’t need to. She liked to keep long finger nails and paint them red. She was one of the good souls. 

When we were little, me and my cousins used to play cricket in the backyard. This was such a big annoyance for the rest of the family but not her. Infact, she made us paper balls to play with. She always had something funny to say. She was fun to be around with. 

Once a year, we had a family get together and she used to prepare some delicious dumplings for us. I used to wonder how could she wrap those dumplings with her long nails but she did it with such ease. She and I had a secret understanding when it came to second helping. I used to pretend to look away while she filled up my plate with another heavy lot of dumplings and I used to pretend to look surprised. She winked. 

She used to pass each one of us with some jaggery candies called ‘lall patthar’, that she’d prepare. They were a mouthful land so very tasty. 

She had been having health issues for a long time which we only recently discovered. She just wouldn’t bother anybody with her worries. That was not a part of who she was. Both her kidnies had given way and her condition went worse from bad. She needed a respirator to breathe. I visited her last week. I could tell she was not comfortable with me seeing here like that. Nevertheless, she smiled. She was having a hard time breathing but she tried to make the conversation as normal as she could. I felt bad for her. She was too young to be in that condition. She even said that the new medication was working and that she felt much better. I was hopeful she’d be better soon. 

We will miss you. You will be in our hearts. I hope you knew how much all of us loved you, deep within, I think you did.