Happy Birthday Love!

Today Jennifer would've been 41.

She was never one for birthdays, that is, until we started dating. I remember the first ever birthday present(s) I gave her. It was a bouquet of roses, with a cryptic note because we had just started dating and did not want the lady boss to know (Jennifer and I were colleagues then). And "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Internet" (it was 1997, so it was a useful book!)



Since that first birthday we spent together oh-so-long ago, we made it a point to celebrate all our birthdays. And what fun we had. It was often a series of mini-celebrations: from the romantic escapades for just the two of us to the many makan sessions with family and friends...

Jennifer's last birthday party was a surprise do I planned at Penang Mari, then our favourite haunt. I got all her family, best friends, and church buddies to gather and then we surprised her, with Jr being the main star who said he needed to use the little boys' room upstairs where everyone was waiting!

Such fun, such joy, such an overpowering show of love...

Happy birthday angel!
I'm sure they celebrate birthdays in heaven as well, surrounded by loved ones who have gone before us...

We miss you today especially much, but because of our love for you in our hearts, we celebrate you... and your new life!

What Would You Say To Cancer, Given The Chance?

Jennifer was a world-class fighter whose ferocity in her battle with cancer would make Mohammed Ali, Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan look like wimps.

I received an e-mail from LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation with the link for this video, which is amazing! I can only imagine what Jennifer would have said, but I beleive it would be along these lines: "you will not stop me from being the best mother I can to my son." "I will continue to be the life of the party." "The only person who hates you more than me is my husband !"

She would have had strong words for cancer.

For those of us who were living witnesses to the her daily struggle with cancer, we realise and know that she fought all the way to the very end, even refusing to go onto morphine when the pain was unbearable because for her that would have spelt the end.

So cancer, I have this to say to you: "you may have taken Jennifer from us, but the battle against you is far from over. Many hundreds and thousands more have risen in her place to put an end to you. To ensure that no other mother, wife, sister and daughter will ever be taken away..."

"Cancer, you days are numbered. We will triumph over you in the end!"

N.B. I have been involved with LIVESTRONG since 2004, and have organised LIVESTRONG DAYs in Malaysia. I will be working to create the first LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE in Malaysia soon. Please do drop me a note if you want to be involved!

Three

Yes, it has been three years.
At times, it seems like "oh-so-long-ago" but then, at times it seems like "only yesterday"...

But we will always carry her in our hearts, be it 3 or 30 years -- Jennifer will remain forever in the heart of her TwoMichaels and in a lot of your hearts.

Why?

Because of who she was.
Because she first touched us.
Because long ago she carried us in her hearts.
Because once you've met her, you will never ever forget her.
Because you become the better for knowing her.

Jennifer was always impatient, wanting to get things done fast, fast, fast (I have come to understand in my own personal reflections that she must have known in her spirit that her time with us would not be very long). But in her relationships with people she was infinitely patient -- she never gave up on her friends, even when they would constantly disappoint her. That was just how she was.

She cared very well for all of us, and she was the one to think of every detail, of everything and was always the one to do it all. That is why we all feel such a loss -- because she carried us all this time.

Jennifer was the most lively, bubbly person you would ever meet. She was so full of life even when she was living with metastatic cancer. She would always be there for her family, her friends, even people she did not know very well. That was her thing, it was almost universal how helpful and involved she was, be it in her church, her community or her company.

This is what helps us go on.

Knowing that our Jennifer had lived so well, even in her short time this side of heaven.

Of course we miss her. We will always miss her.

But we live with happiness in the same heart she resides in because we know we will one day be reunited with her.