Well, tuesday started in the worst way possible. I got woken by a phone call informing my family that my Godfather, who is my granduncle, had passed away. I was still dazed, but something inside me sort of tingled. It's hard to explain, but at the same time I did not feel all that sorrowful. I had seen my Godfather just once in the last 5 years plus. My memories of him are from my very much younger days.
My family loved/s to take holidays to Malaysia, especially Fraser's Hill and Cameron Highlands. En route, we often stopped over at Kuala Lumpur to visit my Godfather, Godmother and Godsister. There are just a few things I remember from my trips there. Playing on the white swing outside the house, playing soccer on the little patch of grass, doing random stuff with my siblings on my Godfather's bed, but most of all, I remember playing chess with my Godfather.
I can't exactly remember whether I actually knew how to play chess at that point of time. On the way back from the funeral I did find out from my grandmother that I could play chess WELL when I was 4. Little pat on the head for myself. In any case, I was really young, but I do remember being able to "beat" my Godfather in chess once in awhile. Yes, I patted myself then as well.
My Godfather was by no means a bad chess player. On the contrary, judging by what I've gathered from my Uncles, he is quite an excellent one. I really think it is a skill to be able to lose to a child, but at the same time make the child think that he actually won! My Godfather was excellent at this. He had a knack for building others up and encouraging people.
In any case, we arranged to travel up to KL for the funeral on wednesday. At the wee hour of 4am, My family, Grandmother and one of my uncles, who is my other Godfather, left for Malaysia. I slept almost the entire way there, so before long, for me at least, we were at my Gpdfather's house.
As I saw everyone around break down in grief, I too let a few tears roll down. it suddenly struck me that I had missed out on something. My Godfather was a lot more than the great encourager I knew him as. I just hadn't spent the time to get to know the other elements of his amazing character. I was struck my immense regret. I had wasted time in his house watching tv instead of talking to him. I do not recall ever picking up the phone to give him a call to see how he was doing. Although He would faithfully send me a birthday card every year, I did not even know what month he was born in.
This is the first time I had attended the funeral of someone who was actually close to me. Even as I type this, it burns that I did not take the time to know him better. How dreadful retrospect can be! I sat on the now rusted swing and thought about my Godfather and others around me who I do not know as well as I should. The list is pretty long.
There was, thankfully i suppose, not much time was contemplation as there was a little service at the house before the actual funeral service at the church. So what did I gather about my Godfather from the numerous people who spoke highly of him? Well, he was one with a man with a friendly countenance who had the ability to make everyone feel special without playing favorites. He was a man of many skills or talent, who was always willing and had the ability to pass on his skills to those around him. Most of all though, he was a man of God, possessing a child-like faith in Christ, an undying hope for Salvation and a deep love for God.
As I walked down the church aisle next to the coffin, I whispered to him, "Sorry that I never got to know you better here on earth, but I hope to live a life like yours and after that I would be delighted to get to know you in heaven!"
