A Legacy of Giving (first posted on thebarefootfoodie.org on 18 Aug 2016 )

A Legacy of Giving

AUGUST 18, 2016BAREFOOT MEMORIALS

Today is the 2nd Anniversary of Mum’s passing. Death is cruel because of its finality. There are no u-turns, no half-way measures, no extensions. Over time, we learn to cope with the loss and move on with living, but the pain remains like a dull ache, no longer troubling, but constantly there.

For more than 20 years of her life, down to her very last day , Mum worked at the Cheshire Home as a nurse, serving and caring for the severely handicapped. It was like her second home. They all came to send her off, paying their final respects, each of them in varying degrees of incapacity, struggling to make sense of why this beautiful person with a heart of gold, left them so suddenly; some weeping opening, others in deep consternation.

We put out a donation box dedicated to the Cheshire Home. It seemed the only natural course for the funds to be channeled back to the people mum had loved and who in turned loved her back. Thank you to all those who gave so generously. The Government matched it dollar for dollar, and we amassed quite a sizeable sum.

It is timely that just a few days’ ago, Cheshire Home wrote to my brother and I, informing us how part of the funds were used, with the rest kept as reserves. What brought back tears to my eyes were the plaques dedicated to Mum, affixed on the equipment bought by Cheshire Home, ” In Sweet and Loving Memory of Our Dearest Late Sister Maggie Leong, August 2014 “

Mum left behind a legacy of her giving, and Cheshire Home gave others something to remember her by.

Thank you so very much, Cheshire Home, for that thoughtful gesture. It means a lot to the family.

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