two or three times a month when I stay at Paya Rumput on weekends.
When I attend a course or am on duty as a befriender at Calvary Life Assembly (CLA), I usually turn up at the home between 8.30am and 9.30am and stop in front of the beautiful garden at the entrance after the guard house.
If Uncle Seelan is already sitting on a bench there, I will let him inform the staff that he is going to church with me. If he is not around, I will get down from the car, enter the office
so that a clerk calls him at his bedroom.
Once I arrived at almost 10am since I had nothing special that day. When Uncle Seelan noticed me, he simply waved his hand, asking me to go off. He had just got the permission to go out for tea with other folks as he was not sure if I would come at all. After he had expressed his preference to be at the church early rather than late, I tried to accommodate to him so that he would attend the service when I was available to be his driver.
Through our conversations in the car, I also learned that this old bachelor had no relatives in Melaka and hardly had visitors to take him out for meals. Being a loner myself though, I was not sure if I would like to spend the final part of my life at an old peoples' home.
So a late Wednesday afternoon, I went to the home to bring Uncle Seelan to the weekly night market at my residential area to buy dinner. He came out in a sarong
and walked back to his room to get changed. I was allowed by the staff to go further to the backyard to wait for him. That was the first time I saw from a distance his bedroom hidden behind big trees. A Chinese resident commented that Uncle Seelan was very kind though he did not talk much.
Last Sunday morning, it was a quarter hour left before my class at CLA started at 9. When I reached Seri Kenangan, there was no sign of my usual passenger. While waiting for him, I grumbled in my heart that I would be delayed even more for my class. After ten minutes, the tiny man finally appeared in sarong.
Uncle Seelan told me he could not go with me that day because he had a pain at his back and would not be able to remain seated too long during the church service. This old man in his eighties had knocked on something while trying to be the mediator of two younger fellows who were quarrelling. I suddenly felt sad for not being able to go to church together with him.
He estimated the recovery would take another two weeks before he could resume his attendance to church. Since two other couples who used to fetch Uncle Seelan occasionally no longer attended CLA, he totally depended on me to give him a lift to the house of God. When Uncle Seelan asked me, "Will you come after that?" I realized I had become probably the most regular visitor and the closest church member to him. I held his hands and assured him, "Of course, Uncle Seelan! As long as I am around, I will always come and pick you. Let me pray for you..." His face was shining with smiles when I said good-bye.
That morning, I was half an hour late for my class but I was glad to have learnt another precious lesson with Uncle Seelan. And I thanked God for sending me to bring hope to this blessed child of His at Seri Kenangan Home.
There were many other lonely souls at old peoples' homes who are eager for your love and care. Will you spend a little time with them?
No comments:
Post a Comment