Today, our eldest niece, Kuya, got married. It was held in Kota Bharu.
Despite the flood crisis and all, the ceremony itself went on smoothly. We wanted to be there to lend support to her. Her own mum could not be there. We wanted to surprise her (our niece).
We have been performing the “Sembahyang Hajat” every day, ever since we made plans to fly up to Kota Bharu for the wedding. We prayed that the floods will subside, and the rain will stop, so that my niece can go through with her akad nikah, and we can fly up for the ceremony.
My sister Adura has been keeping us informed of the flood situation daily, and as the flood worsens, we kept praying for a miracle.
Our flight was supposed to be at 3.30pm today, 28th December. Her original date for the akad nikah was supposed to be on the 29th morning. But due to unpredictable weather conditions and rising flood water levels, they decided to have the ceremony earlier, throwing our plans to surprise her off tangent.
Even as late as 11.00am today, we were all (hubby, son and I) still set and ready to catch the 3.30pm flight with the hope that the akad nikah will be held after 5.00pm so that we can still make it on time, even if we have to take the lorry to the ceremony, like my mum did.
But at 12.00noon, my niece told me that the akad nikah will take place before Zohor, which means that it will take place before 1.00pm. She said that it is starting to rain again, and she doesn't want to take any chances. She has every right to be worried. The weather is so unpredictable.
My heart sank. I am going to miss my niece's wedding. My very first niece’s wedding. It felt like it was only yesterday that I was bringing her and her sister Kuyana around to family gatherings. Now she is getting married.
I do so want to be there for her, but how? I have no private jet...
It was too late to change our tickets to an earlier flight.
By then, she had already known of my plans to fly up to KB for her ceremony. I told her about it the night before to give her moral support. I told her that I will try my very best to be there.
I felt restless all afternoon today, during the time that I assumed was the time the ceremony took place.
I feel sad that I could not be there for my niece. I so wanted to be there for her, but the worsening flood, and unconfirmed time of akad nikah due to unpredictable weather conditions just wasn't working in our favour to make the trip.
So it was nice to finally see photos of the ceremony my sister posted. I cried....
Congratulations, Kuya, and Felix. You look so very pretty today.
Sorry we could not be there on your big day. We tried......
May you have a long and happy marriage with lots of kids. Big hugs!
