aneng

when i was a wee lil tot, we used to live in a flat in bedok. when we were ill, dad and mum would bring my brother and i to a clinic at the next block. there was a lovely nurse at the clinic whose name is agnes. she was really close to our family and loved us very very much.

as a little child, i couldn't pronouce her name- agnes. instead i called her aneng (prononuced ar-neng). the entire family then started referring to her as aneng. anyways, we were really close. apparently, when my mum worked, my dad would leave my brother and i at the clinic and he'd go wash the car or something. aneng, would watch over us.

we lost touch with her when we moved away more than 20 years ago. but i always remembered her. especially when i slept in the quilt that she gave me as a present (it was lovingly sewn by her late mother).

she tracked us down this year. she looked up my dad's name in the phonebook and then sent us a card. dad invited her to our wedding earlier this year, and this raya- dad invited her home for breakfast. i spent quite a bit of time chatting with her, hearing stories about ..well..me!..and found out this year, that she used to buy milk powder for me and my brother. how sweet was that?