A tribute to my dearest Uncle

God saw that he was getting tired,
A cure was not to be.
So He put His arms around him
and whispered, "Come with Me."
With tearful eyes, we watched him suffer,
And saw him fade away.
Although we loved him dearly,
We could not make him stay.
A golden heart stopped beating,
Hard working hands to rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes "The Best".


~Anonymous

Do you have a day in your life that you would like to erase from your memory? I do - July 2, 2010 was the day I long to forget. I lost my dearest Uncle that day, who was more like a father to me.

He was such a great human being - so strong, bold, jovial, a rare  larger-than-life kind of character - a pillar that supported our whole family! Such a huge loss has definitely created a vacuum, one that suffocates me every time I think of him.

"Amanja" was his pet name..and of course - I christened him that. Back in the day, when I was just learning to speak my first words, my mother tried to teach me to say "ammachan" (meaning maternal uncle in Malayalam: my native language). She made me repeat it several times and once convinced that I had learnt the word right, she told me to go call my uncle by that name. But when I stood in front of him and actually voiced the word out,  it came out as "amanja" but he sort of liked it and actually found it cute; and from then on he was known as Amanja to all in our family :)

I have so many fond memories with him that I will cherish forever. I was the first child on my mother's side of the family and was really pampered by my amanja. There is not one thing in the world that I had asked for and he had said No. He has done so much for me but I just feel that I could not do enough for him, as he spent those painful last days on earth. So here is a tribute to one of the best people I ever knew!!! You will be much missed and we all love you!

We little knew that morning 

God was to call your name.

In life we loved you dearly, 

in death we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you,

You did not go alone.

For part of us went with you

The day God called you home.

You left us beautiful memories,

Your love is still our guide,

And though we cannot see you,

You are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken,

and nothing seems the same,

But as God calls us one by one,

The chain will link again.

~Anonymous