My Family - Part I

I am blessed to be born in a big family...I have a very big family.. very big... and I
love them all very much! My parents have 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl. I am a rose
among the thorns... I have 3 brothers and we grew up together in a house, at first in
West Coast of P. Malaysia and later in East Coast of P. Malaysia.
My beloved dad.. he is my idol . His ideas, his advice, his strength and his spirit in
live, inspired me a lot. He has always been there to help me whenever I needed him,
until now. He is like a light in the darkness... when I can't find light anywhere else,
suddenly his light appear to show me way, to guide me and to help me,
unconditionally. I love him so much and May God Bless him forever, in this world
and in the world after... He is a very spiritually strong man and I hope I can be like
him... spiritually strong and positive!
My mom... she is very dear and special to my heart. She has touched many hearts...
We are very close to each other. We used to chit chat and story about everything,
every evening, when I was still living in the same house. Ohh... how I missed that so
much! She is very kind hearted and caring person. She will do anything she could,
just to make people happy. Whenever she comes to visit us in KL, she will bring a lot
of our favourite food and stuff, for us to enjoy. And we will have food party for days!
The same thing when we go back home to visit them (mom and dad), she will have
a list of menu of our favourite food throughout our stay there.... In case I didn't say it
enough, let me say it now, I love you so much mama! You are the best mama in the
world for me! May God Bless you too!
My brothers.... My eldest brother, Abe Deen. We used to do activities together. Our
age are 2 years different. Not so far. Our childhood (I will write about My Childhood
separately in a different post) as I remembered was full of fun! I hope he still
remembers as I vividly remember all the memories.. I remember we went fishing in
the PJ lake, catching tilapia fish, using worms which we dig out ourselves from the
backyard, as the bait.. I remember, we played 'gusti' where he accidentally bruised
my eye.. I remember we played in the rain, throwing mud to each other, pretending

like its a snowball! I remembered, we went cycling... I remembered, I lost my school

bag during the school assembly and he as the big brother and also the school
prefect at that time, asked a group of his friends to go searching for it everywhere
around the school until he found my bag... I remember, we went to swimming class
together and he was laughing telling me that there was an old man in the changing
room, totally naked.... After an incidence, we all moved to East Coast. Suddenly, he
was accepted in a boarding school and off he went.. leaving me missing him. I
remember how I (we - me, mama, dad and other brothers) missed him and eagerly
waiting for the weekends, because he will come home during the weekends.. I
remember how mama would cook all his favourite dishes at that time.... Since then,
we just met each other during holidays or some weekends... I remember, once,
when I was in the university, I got sick and was rushed to the emergency room by
my friend and he called my friend many times, to ask about my condition and asked
my friend to have a good care of me... Ah... time flies really fast, now, we are the
head of our own family... he now has a beautiful, devoted loving wife and a
handsome son and a cute daughter. But he is still my big brother. He will always be.
I love you Abe Deen!
My younger brother, Riz... We are 6 years different from each other.... We were so
close to each other then, and still close now.... Praise to God... When we were both
small and young, he liked to 'lepak' in my room, watched TV together and
sometimes he fell asleep in my room. He usually dream-walking. One day, in his
sleep, he walked to my study table, took a few books and went to the toilet. After a
while, he came out from the toilet, without the books. I went to check and saw a pile
of books on the toilet seat. The next morning, when he woke up, I asked him and he
told me that he dreamt that he went to work in the office.. We had a great laughed!
One incident I couldn't forget, when we teased one of our helper. At first, it was an
innocent reaction to an incident, when we shouted "..Alaaaa Kassimmm... Alaaaa
Kaasssimmm..." repeatedly in my room, until my helper ran up to my room, panting
and catching her breath and pale face, and saying that she was hearing ghost voice
saying "..Alaaaa Kassimmm... Alaaaa Kaasssimmm..." repeatedly..... So, we got an
idea and decided to tease her. We told her there was no such thing/voice and I
followed her to her room. We had a plan. My brother, supposed to keep on shouting
"..Alaaaa Kassimmm... Alaaaa Kaasssimmm..." repeatedly, while I accompany our
helper downstairs and pretend not to hear his (my brother) voice. But my brother,
instead of shouting in my room, thought that it would be more real if he shouted out
of the window. So he opened the window, and shouted out from my window
"..Alaaaa Kassimmm... Alaaaa Kaasssimmm..." repeatedly, (my room is in the upper
level of the house, where the helper's room is under my room, downstairs) at 2 a.m.!
Lastly, we ended up, not only scaring our helper, but also all our neigbours!!! Now,
all the memories I had with him, will be kept as memories and will be taken out from
my memory archive whenever I need a dose of smile. Riz is now a proud husband
and father of three beautiful, active and healthy son and daughters... I love you so
much Abe!

Lastly, my youngest brother, JJ. He is 6 years different from Riz and 12 years
different from me. He was soooo cute when he was a baby (I am sure his wife thinks
he is still the cutest guy in town!). He was so cute, that one day, while I carried him
on my lap, I was feeling so 'geram' of his cuteness until I sprained my neck! JJ is
(yes, is) a very quiet and shy person. But when he speaks, or tell jokes, everyone
will laugh with tears! One day (God Bless him), he was playing in the verandah with
Riz and Isham (my cousin) and suddenly he slipped and luckily they (Riz and Isham)
could catch his legs. But he was upside down, hanging down from the verandah. I
was down in the garden at that time, looking at them, and shouting and jumping up
and down panicking! But it was happy ending, they could pull him out of it.. thanks
God. JJ is very polite and sensitive. He will innocently follow whatever you tell him to
do and will always use the words please and thank you. One day, in the car, he ate
candies and he asked mama where to put the candy skin. Mama told him to put at
his feet (mama said "letak di kakilah JJ..!"). When we arrived at our destination, we
saw that the candy skin was nicely sitting on his feet. He is a good boy. He loves his
room very much. We all love him dearly. Now, he is a husband to a nice young
doctor and awaiting for their first baby to be born... May he and his family be
Blessed with joy, health, wealth and happiness always! I love you JJ!
--------- to be continued in Part 2 ---------------

Myself.... I am married since 14th August, 1997 to an Iranian (Alhamdulillah..). Yes,

its a mix-marriage from two different parts of the world. How I met him?.. I will write a
separate post for it. The story is too long for me to 'enterprame' in this post. Quite
interesting story, at least for me and my honey. "Is it easy to marry someone from
different culture and background?"..... Tell me about it... the answer is NO. It is not
an easy ride BUT its not impossible. Remember? Happiness is in your heart?
Thanks God, we made it till now with our own way.. "Are you happy?".. some people
ask. My answer "Oh yeah!.. Praise to God!" I always pray that this marriage and
happiness will last forever... It takes two to tango right? Well... at the moment, we
are doing the 'Tango' dance... still dancing, with Suri, tagging along, dancing beside
us....
Oh.. talking about Suri.. she is the Gift from God to our family..after waiting for more
than 10 years and after a bad and hurtful miscarriage @ 26 weeks (to a boy)... she
is our life now.. she is the center of everything.... our world rotate around her.... She
is a happy girl.. dancing all the time and enjoying her little world in her own way... I
pray to God so that she will always be happy in her life (now and then) and healthy
and meet people who can make her happy too... God, please take care of her and

please Hold her hand in her life, coz I will not be able to hold her hand all the time
through her life...
My in-laws... Kak Faz... I still remember, one day, mama told me that Abe Deen's
heart was stolen by a girl. Happily, I offered myself to be the 'spy'.. hee hee (sorry
Kak Faz!).. I went to London with Cik Nah. Abe Deen and a beatiful girl waited for us
in the airport (first impression, check!)... We arrived in Abe Deen's house and the
table was full of Kelantanese dishes.. Abe Deen said his girl helped him to prepare
the dishes, she came since morning to the house to cook (second point, check!).....
Then, the experience was just enjoyable, we could talk to each other like we've
known each other forever (third point, check!).. We went strawberry picking, it was
fun! (fourth point, check!).. and we saw the way they look and talk to each other, the
love is in the air (fifth point, check! check! check!).... Well, that's the most important
thing rite? After all the screening, LOVE... So, there it goes, a positive report from
the spy... Well, Abe Deen, good job! You really have chosen the best among the
best! And Kak Faz, good job! You've played your part very well in our family... I miss
talking to you! Love ya!
Ijan, Riz's wife... I still remembered, Dad and Mom told me to slow talk to Riz, asking
him, if he is ready to take a girl's hand as his wife and if he already have one that he
chose... It was in VS Bangsar, as we had our luch, exclusively two of us.. I drop the
topic on the table.. and to my expectation, he said that he is deeply in love with a girl
from his class and he is 120% sure, she is the one he wants to marry and live with
till the end of his life.... Awwwww.... Are you guys shedding tears?? Common...
relax.. breath in, breath out... Ok, so again, this spy (me) send the report to the big
bosses and a few month after that... "Kelepong.. kelepak... kelepong... kelepak.."
(bunyi kompang!).. and Walaaa... now, 3 kids, with some more coming soon..!! (is
it?? haa haa, its my blog, I can write anything rite?).. Ijan, you rock (and of course I
love ya!)!
Dr Illa.. JJ's wife, the latest collection in our family... I was also the 'critique'... It was
in the Four Season restaurant, we had dinner, together with her parents, Dad and
Mom and JJ... well the dinner went so well and we just have topic to talk and the
chemistry was just right.... A few month later, they tied the knot... I will tell the story
about her later coz I was not around them after they got married.. I am 24 hrs flight
apart.. huhu... But Illa, the kids (anak2 sedara) are all crazy about you!! We love ya!

About my husband side (in-laws)... my parents in-law.... (Syukr.. syukr.. syukr..) they
are the best parents in-law someone could have!!! Seriously! I can't ask for more!
Just let me tell some stories about them. During my early time in Iran, I didn't know
Persian and most of them (Iran people) don't know English. So, my mother in-law
did the groceries shopping (by foot!) for me everyday and send it to my 4th floor
apartment! There is always smile on her face and never once she raised her voice to
me or interfering with our life... When I feel like eating something, she will as soon as
possible buy the raw materials and cook it for me!.. My father in-law, I still
remembered, one snowy winter day, he arrived in front of our door, with a bowl of
red watermelon.. He was eating the watermelon and suddenly he remembered that
watermelon is my favourite. On that instance he brought it to me through the harsh
weather.. Whenever we go to visit them in Iran, they will treat me like a princess..
they don't let me do anything else than enjoying my time there.... I never forget to
thank God for what He had Given me..
My husband's sister and brothers are like my own. We could discuss things together
and understand each other. My sister in-law, Nazanin is a good listener and secret
keeper. Thanks sis! I love you!
I mentioned that I have a big family. Yup, else than whoever I already mentioned
above and in the past post, I have another two big (close) family, HAMSHI and WCJ.
HAMSHI and WCJ, their similarities are... they like to meet up, party, food and chit
chat...
HAMSHI members are about 90. They are my mom's side. They are the
aunties/uncles and their kids. We are close to each other, very close. The similarities
among the aunties are that they like to COUNT. Not a single exception. Yes, they
like to count everything, again and again and they will use all their fingers to count.
The evergreen funny story among the family I like to share is about an incident. It
happened a long time ago, maybe more than 10 years ago. The aunties went to a
weeding in a village and at that time it was rainy season. Cik Yah, in one hand, is
ulat-phobia (afraid of worms, leech or anything that look like that). Because it was
rainy season, the host have to put a plank of wood on the messy and muddy ground
so that the guests can walk on it without making their shoes dirty. Cik Ngah, on the
other hand, is meniti-phobia (afraid to walk on small plank of wood). So, it happened
that, Cik Ngah walked in the front, followed by Cik Ma and Cik Yah at the back. God

is Great (hiii... hiiii...), Cik Ngoh, at the middle of the plank, was having difficulties to
go further and her legs were shaking and at the same time also, a leech appeared
on the plank, in front of Cik Yah. While Cik Ngok ek-ah-ek-ah trying not to fall, Cik
Yah already jumped on Cik Ma's back and Cik Ngoh finally fell in the mud and
sprained her foot. And Cik Ma successfully cross the plank with Cik Yah on her
back!! Sooo funny (it was not funny then..)..
WCJ members are more than 100s. Every year, we will have gathering, which we
called it Family Day. I remember, I initiated the Family Day, with arwah Cik Nor, Cik
Awi and Cik Ja. One afternoon, we were discussing on how to make our growing
family members united and know each other and stay close to each other, even after
the earlier generation pass away. So, we suggested to have gathering with
interesting activities and till now, the tradition is still being practiced with new fresh
ideas from the newer generation. I missed a few of it but my soul is always with
them. I am proud of this tradition and may this will hold our family together. Talking
about arwah Cik Nor, I was very closed to her. We used to share stories and secret.
All other cousins also like to discuss their problem with her.. I remember, my last
conversation with her (via phone, I was in Iran at that time..), she said that she had
so many people's problem in her head and how she wishes to ease her mind from
problems and relax in peace... and the next day, God Granted her wish.. she was
taken away from us (she was first in coma for sometime).. Good people always die
young... May her soul be with the protected one in jannah.. I miss her so much.. I am
sure, everybody who knows her or been in her life missed her dearly. May strength
be with her family.. al-Fatihah.

How many families do you have? Some children have just one family. And there are
other children that have more than one family because one or both of their parents were
divorced and they married someone else. Some adults have a family with just one parent
because their father or mother might have died or their parent is divorced. Sometimes
children are adopted into a new family. And there are some children who live in a house
with many children we call an orphanage because both their parents might have died
and there was no one else to take care of them
Families can come in all different ways. But no matter what family we are part of we can
be part of a second family at the same time. That is very special and so all of us can have
two families. We have the family we were born into or the family we live with and if we

believe in Jesus we can also be part of Gods family. The Bible says anyone can be part of
Gods family if they believe that Jesus is real and is Gods only Son.