One Month Already!

It has been a month since the passing of my childhood friend, Amirah Binti Annuar. The news on Amira's passing was totally appalling not only to her family members, close friends but everyone who got to know her for the past 25 years of her life.I'm missing her already even though I was not that closed to her. I'm sure there are a lot of people are not aware of the relationship between Amirah and I. Let me share a little bit story of the late Allahyarhamah Amirah Binti Annuar.

Her parents are my parents' best friends. They were in the same school in the University of Mississipi, USA. Our parents got hitched in the US.She was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi three months earlier than me but I was born in Michigan since my mother moved to Michigan to pursue her masters degree. She befriended me since we were little because my parents used to bring me along to her house and so on.  She was more like a childhood friend. As we grew up, we tend to not seeing each other anymore until we got into the same secondary school in Shah Alam. She started Form 1 the same school with me but we never got into the same class for the whole five years of schooling. Plus, our majors were totally different. She was more into Science and I was more into Account. We were not very closed in school but she was very nice to me. She was such a friendly, bubbly, cheerful and jovial kind of person. She has never even been snob to me even though she got into greater class than me. I noticed that! She always asked for new updates of me and my family and it shows her concern and the caring part of her.

The best thing is that I know some of her favorite things even though we were not that closed. One thing I know is that she loved lip balms darn so much! Every time she went to the ladies, she had never missed to put on more and more lip balms.Never missed! These lip balms come from many brands and types. One of her favorite brand was the Strawberry flavor from Body Shop. I know that since we used to bump into each other in the loo. There you go, ladies. Restrooms are the best place to catch up with each other and to observe other peoples' favorite stuffs too.LOL!

Amirah was the eldest out of four siblings. She was such a brilliant student. She had a Diploma in Investment and a Bachelor's Degree in Islamic Banking.Alhamdulillah, she graduated successfully with Second Class Upper. I remember the moment that Amirah's mother was calling my mother saying on her intention to send Amirah to States to further her Bachelor's Degree. That was definitely after she had completed her diploma and I have finished my Bachelor's Degree. Amirah's mother asked my mother on whether I was interested to further my Master's Degree in the USA. She would be very pleased if I can go together with Amirah to further our studies together in States. She was hoping that I would accompany her daughter over there.OMG! Noticed how she trusted me in guiding and accompanying Amirah to stay in the USA? My mother told me of Amirah's mother's intention the next day.and I was like.OMG!!!!!!!!!I was totally thrilled and excited!How can I described in words.I was tremendously contented. To be frank with you, pursuing my studies in the USA has always been my dream. Unfortunately, my mother replied to Amirah's mother that my father and my mother herself were not afford to support me to further my Master's Degree in the USA because of our financial condition. The worst part was that, my father.yes!my beloved father. He did not permit me to further my studies abroad.My mother knew that my father would never consent me to study abroad. You want to know what my father always says: "Malaysia ni kan banyak universiti yang bagus- bagus. Belajar sini saja sudah, tak payah susah- susah pergi jauh,nanti lagi banyak masalah".and I was like; sungguuuuhhhh tak aciiiiiii (dalam hati ya,biasalah jiwa orang muda memberontak masa tu). So, there you go. Amirah and I both were pursuing our studies in Malaysia. Amirah was pursuing her Bachelors Degree in UiTM Shah Alam and I was pursuing my Master's Degree the same place too. To be honest with you, I picked UiTM because it has the cheapest MBA fees in Malaysia.alang- alang ayah tak mau saya belajar obesi kan.LOL!

Job
After graduation, she started with a new business which is called Ayammaz Roti Impit under KFC Holdings. Ever heard of Ayammaz Roti Impit?It's like the Malaysian version of 1901 hot dogs. They used Ayamas food products to make those hot dogs. She opened her carts in UiTM Puncak Alam and  managed to run the business very well. One of the prominent people in KFC Holding declared Amirah as one of their successful managers for this business since she managed to get great profits for the business. They included Amirah in their talks and seminars to show her charisma, passion and commitment in being a good Ayammaz Roti Impit manager.I was amazed to see the picture of Amirah and her carts in the talks slides showing her success in managing the business. I know right, because I was one of the participants too.The last time I contacted Amirah was during her 25th birthday. I text-ed her to wish her 25th birthday saying like:

'Hi, babe!I heard about you and your Ayammaz Roti Impit. Impressive!Anyway, happy 25th birthday to you. OMG! Nampaknya kita makin tua.

I was contented that she replied my message. Her reply sound something like this

"Thank you so much, darling. I'm 25 but I'm always 17 at heart. hehe.

That message showed how grateful and contented she was with her life.I'm impressed and I'm proud of her.

Her illnesses
The news on her illnesses, Bone Cancer cracked by my parents when they bumped into each other at R&R somewhere in Malaysia. I don't remember.That was in 2005, she was still in her diploma studies. She extended her study for a year since she needed to do a lot of things for the treatment of  Cancer.She went to many places including Germany for treatment and operations. Doctor decided to cut her leg ( I don't remember left or right) to prevent the cancer to spread out to the whole body. Therefore, her one leg was managed to be cut. She needed to wear fake leg as substitute to it. At that time,everyone thought that no more cancer in her body. People thought that she was totally healthy and her illnesses has recovered from cancer.

Amirah was such a strong girl. Even though she had lost one of her legs and classified as a disabled person, she was still acting like everything was fine! That is what I like about her. She was being very cool, jovial and cheerful as always. How wonderful is that! It's like she was very healthy as before. I bumped into her in UiTM when she was pursuing her degree and I was pursuing my master's degree there. She looked totally well to me. Merely the way she walked speak a thousand things of her illness. She was being very cool all the time and the best thing is that she managed to finish her study successfully.How awesome is that? I wonder how did she coped with all this.Can you feel how strong she was handling all that illnesses, pain,tribulations and loss?



26th October 2010
It was Tuesday! A good friend of mine, Pia text-ed me on facebook asking on Amirah's passing and everything. She said that everyone on facebook was keep stating on her passing that morning and everything. I was flabbergasted!Totally appalled.That news was appalling!and I was like OMG! Pia asking me for a favor to confirm on the bad news.Therefore, I called my mother to confirm on the news. My mother told me that Amirah's mother was calling her that morning but she could not picked up the phone since she was invigilating.So, my mother called Amirah's mother back to confirm but she failed. Anyway, it was confirmed. Amirah Annuar passed away because of Lung Cancer.All her best friends were non-stop dedicating Al-Fatihah for Amirah. Condolences speeches on her passing were all over the facebook. I found out from her best friends that she died because of Lung Cancer and she was hospitalized weeks before she passed away.Well, you know what they say. Ajal dan maut itu di tangan Tuhan, penyebab kepada kematian hanyalah satu cara untuk memudahkan tugas Malaikat Izrail.I'll remember that, always.Ya Allah please forgive me. Ya Allah please forgive her for all the things she had done intentionally or not.We, as God Servants and humans are not perfect. May her soul rests in peace. Al- Fatihah.

Allahyarhamah Amirah Binti Annuar.

4th May 1985- 26th October 2010

Look how sweet, tall and slender she was.We miss you already. May your soul rest in peace. Al-fatihah.