On 24 March 2007, I received an SMS from a friend, Suan Choo. In the SMS, she mentioned that she saw our mutual friend's obituary in the newspaper. I was shocked and didn't know what to think. Memories flooded my mind....
I contacted my Father in Malaysia to confirm the obituary. Unfortunately, he could not confirm it. Somehow I managed to get the contact number of Auntie, Geevan's Mother. When I called her, she confirmed my fear... Later I called my sister in Australia to let her know the bad news. I sobbed for the loss of my dear friend....
You see, Geevan and I go back a long way...
I know his whole family and was very close to his youngest sister (Sham) and 2nd sister(Nush). We used to go to the same ISCA (Youth Group) at Church. Sham is a year younger than myself. We hanged out together, cycled to and fro school, had slumber party, stayed over and talked about boys .. hee hee. Nush is closer to my older sister, maybe because of age. But we were still close, nevertheless.
We stay very near each other's home, so, Geevan would come over very often and we used to talk a lot. I was probably about 15 years old then. He will tell me the girls he had a crush on and the gossips amongst the boys. He was very tall, over 6 feet and very good looking.
He often exaggerated most things, so, I will take everything with a pinch of salt. But will often give him advice, eventhough he was never interested in them. Whenever he told a whopper, I will roll my eyes, "that's Geevan". But there were no hard feelings... we were just teenagers... good friends and things were much simpler then.
Geevan was an extreme extrovert. He was always walking or cycling around the neighbourhood. Extremely friendly and talkative. He was just a normal outgoing guy. He has a particular illness which affected his speech, so, generally people had difficulty understanding him, but that never stopped Geevan from telling his stories. If not, he was even more determined. He had the patience to repeat each sentences 3-4 times because it would take that many times to properly understand him. Of course, I had a little more skill than others because I spend more time with him. But at times, I would run out of patience. A 5 mins story would inevitably turn into 15 mins.
In 2005, Sham came back to Malaysia for holiday. She is a hot model in Milan, Italy. But to me, she is just good old Sham. She stayed over at my home, we had a great time catching up, we had coffee with her cousin too and it was a hilarious and fun time!! I had not laughed so much in a very long time. At Starbucks or was it San Francisco whatever... My memory failing me... But it was definitely at Damansara Jaya, near Uptown. You see, sense of humour runs in their family. That was one of the reason that we got along so well. I personally love to joke around and just laugh and so did they.
During that visit, Sham told me that Geevan had a crush on me, for the longest time... We were just good friends and I didn't realise that he was infactuated with me.
On 4 September 2004, Nush returned to Malaysia for her wedding. My sister and I made a special trip to their hometown to attend her wedding. I saw Geevan and had a very short conversation with him and that was the last time I saw him.
The whole thing happened so suddenly. He just died. About 1 day of hospitalisation and that was it. How fragile life is. Most of all, I treasure all the memories we had together. Death of someone close to me was something I was not used to. I am in my late 30s and the people I know are still fairly young.
Lastly, I know that God has been merciful to Geevan and loves him so deeply that He brought him home to a wonderful and beautiful place. Spared him all the pain and humiliation that he had been through for the longest time.
Geevan, I will see you again.... one day...
I contacted my Father in Malaysia to confirm the obituary. Unfortunately, he could not confirm it. Somehow I managed to get the contact number of Auntie, Geevan's Mother. When I called her, she confirmed my fear... Later I called my sister in Australia to let her know the bad news. I sobbed for the loss of my dear friend....
You see, Geevan and I go back a long way...
I know his whole family and was very close to his youngest sister (Sham) and 2nd sister(Nush). We used to go to the same ISCA (Youth Group) at Church. Sham is a year younger than myself. We hanged out together, cycled to and fro school, had slumber party, stayed over and talked about boys .. hee hee. Nush is closer to my older sister, maybe because of age. But we were still close, nevertheless.
We stay very near each other's home, so, Geevan would come over very often and we used to talk a lot. I was probably about 15 years old then. He will tell me the girls he had a crush on and the gossips amongst the boys. He was very tall, over 6 feet and very good looking.
He often exaggerated most things, so, I will take everything with a pinch of salt. But will often give him advice, eventhough he was never interested in them. Whenever he told a whopper, I will roll my eyes, "that's Geevan". But there were no hard feelings... we were just teenagers... good friends and things were much simpler then.
Geevan was an extreme extrovert. He was always walking or cycling around the neighbourhood. Extremely friendly and talkative. He was just a normal outgoing guy. He has a particular illness which affected his speech, so, generally people had difficulty understanding him, but that never stopped Geevan from telling his stories. If not, he was even more determined. He had the patience to repeat each sentences 3-4 times because it would take that many times to properly understand him. Of course, I had a little more skill than others because I spend more time with him. But at times, I would run out of patience. A 5 mins story would inevitably turn into 15 mins.
In 2005, Sham came back to Malaysia for holiday. She is a hot model in Milan, Italy. But to me, she is just good old Sham. She stayed over at my home, we had a great time catching up, we had coffee with her cousin too and it was a hilarious and fun time!! I had not laughed so much in a very long time. At Starbucks or was it San Francisco whatever... My memory failing me... But it was definitely at Damansara Jaya, near Uptown. You see, sense of humour runs in their family. That was one of the reason that we got along so well. I personally love to joke around and just laugh and so did they.
During that visit, Sham told me that Geevan had a crush on me, for the longest time... We were just good friends and I didn't realise that he was infactuated with me.
On 4 September 2004, Nush returned to Malaysia for her wedding. My sister and I made a special trip to their hometown to attend her wedding. I saw Geevan and had a very short conversation with him and that was the last time I saw him.
The whole thing happened so suddenly. He just died. About 1 day of hospitalisation and that was it. How fragile life is. Most of all, I treasure all the memories we had together. Death of someone close to me was something I was not used to. I am in my late 30s and the people I know are still fairly young.
Lastly, I know that God has been merciful to Geevan and loves him so deeply that He brought him home to a wonderful and beautiful place. Spared him all the pain and humiliation that he had been through for the longest time.
Geevan, I will see you again.... one day...
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