the one about badrul and mom's birthday...

mom and me...

i wanted to write about my mom a few days ago, tapi takda gambar... all of her pictures kat kampung... ingatkan nak letak gambar masa remaja or gambar wedding, but nak buat macam mana, this is the only old picture yang i ada...

nik maimunah nik ishak... that is my mom's name... ada orang panggil dia nik, ada yang panggil kak mai, kak nah etc. my dad masa muda-muda dulu panggil my mom ayang... hikhikhik... but now he just call her 'nah' ('noh' in terengganu / kelantan dialect, short of maimunah)... family sebelah my mom nih besar jugak, if i'm not mistaken, 13 orang adik beradik semuanya...

seingat dari awal lagih my mom dah kerja... her family was quite well-known kat kampung sebab adik beradik tak kira lelaki atau perempuan, semuanya bekerja... honestly, i tak tahu how my mom do it... my dad dulu kerja cikgu... lepas tuh dia ambik h.s.c. and dapat masuk universiti malaya... so, bila my dad ke kuala lumpur untuk sambung belajar, tinggal my mom jer yang jaga kita orang semua... my mom kerja staff-nurse, so ada shift... kadang-kadang pergi pagi balik petang, and kadang-kadang pergi petang balik pagi the next day...

despite kerja shift, keperluan kami tak pernah kurang... makan, pakai dan sebagainya... of course lah tak sama dengan orang lain, tapi kami tak pernah kelaparan... walaupun kadang-kadang berhari-hari makan nasi berlaukkan 'lebihan' makanan dari hospital, it was still a blessing... some times, dia akan buat sambal (serunding) ikan, and we will eat it with rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner... tapi satu kelebihan duduk di kampung (masa tuh kat kawasan perumahan kos rendah or kat kampung dikenali sabagai rumah murah / rumah kilat) ialah kawan-kawan.... setiap kali balik sekolah, ambil nasi dan apa jua lauk yang ada, kita akan keluar makan kat bawah pokok ramai-ramai... masa tuh lah kita bertukar lauk pauk, so semua dapat merasa masakan mak masing-masing... walaupun i selalu jer berlaukkan sambal ikan... hihihihii...

tiga bulan sekali, i akan temankan my mom naik bas ke kuala lumpur to see my dad... since i anak lelaki sorang, it was sort of like my duty... and i was really looking forward to it... masa nih lah duit belanja sekolah yang kita orang kumpul digunakan sebaik mungkin... my sisters will pesan kalkitos (betul ke eja nih?), or sabun yang tiup keluar belon banyak-banyak tuh... or pensil atau pen yang takda jual kat kampung... seronoknya! but i hated it bila nak balik dari kuala lumpur, sebab my mom will cry and cry and cry in the bus... kesian kat my mom... i tahu she misses my dad so much...

as long as i can remember, we always celebrated adik beradik punya birthday... my mom will cook something special or she will buy sate... and on that particular day, we will get extra pocket money untuk sekolah... lagi special kalau birthday tuh jatuh hujung minggu sebab all of us will take the bus pergi berkelah tepi pantai... but, hhhmmmm... we never celebrated her birthday... she always put us first... even my dad... and she, herself, was the last one on her list...

i remembered how happy she was when my eldest sister dapat 4a 1b for her penilaian darjah lima, and dapat masuk tunku kursiah college (tkc) seremban, and my second elder sister pun dapat 4a 1b and later was accepted to sekolah tun fatimah johor bahru... and i too watched a smile flow across her face that i've never forgotten... a smile that was a pure voluminous and comprehensive exultation that embraced her whole body... and i remembered a steady flow of tears of joy running across her cheek... it was the day i received 5a in my penilaian darjah lima... and later was accepted to sekolah alam shah... i will never forget that day...

and now, all of us, especially me, are trying our best to make it up to her... my sisters yang dah berkahwin and dah ada keluarga sendiri will make sure akan berkumpul bersama-sama to celebrate my mom's birthday... kalau tak dapat hadir hari tersebut, we will make a plan for the weekend... a few years ago, all of us berkongsi duit to send my parents to do umrah and to tour europe as a birthday and anniversary gift... kalau dulu, my mom tak pernah ada lebih dari dua pasang kasut (usually sandals yang dia gunakan untuk pergi kerja) and one handbag, but now, setiap kali harijadi, i will buy her shoes and handbag to match... i bought her diamond earrings and pendants... baju kurung and kain tudung... books that she loves to read, and i took her to the posh restaurants that my pocket could afford.. now she is the first in my list... setiap kali my mom's birthday, i will go out of my way to make her feel special... the way she makes us feel, each and every day of our lives...