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Last Sunday, after church, while having lunch. Everything was quiet and nice. We are having our lunch at the Mamak restaurant, Boris's favorite shop. The food smelled good, and we were just talking about small things when Boris suddenly asked me, “Do you want to see Uncle Laz?” I looked at him, surprised. “Uncle Laz? Today?” My husband smiled and said, “Why not? We can go after lunch. Boris has never been there before.” And say, “Okay, let’s go.” After our lunch, we went to Uncle Laz’s place. The street was quiet. I felt happy because Uncle Laz would be glad to see us. When we got there, Uncle Laz was about to sleep. He sat in his chair with a blanket. When he heard the door, he looked up. “Who is here?” he asked. “It’s us, Uncle Laz!” I said.
“Ah! Finally! You came!” he said, smiling. He stood up slowly and shook our hands. “I was waiting for some company today.” We all laughed. “We just had lunch,” my husband said. “We thought we’d come and visit you.” Boris looked a little nervous at first, but Uncle Laz noticed. “But Uncle Laz sits with him. Tell me, how is your week?” Boris smiled and sat down. “It was good. Busy, but good.” “Busy is good,” Uncle Laz said. “Better than boring!” We all laughed. I could see that Uncle Laz was happy. He told a few funny stories about things that happened last week at home. “Yesterday,” he said, “I tried to dance. The nurse said, ‘Uncle Laz, you are not a dancer!’ I said, ‘I am! I just need music in my heart! Boris laughed. “You really tried to dance?” “Yes! And I fell. But it was fun!” Uncle Laz said, smiling.
I saw a Christmas tree in the living room, all lit up with shiny balls. I asked the lady, “Why a Christmas tree in October?” She laughed. “Oh, Uncle Laz loves Christmas. He always looks forward to Christmas. So we put the tree up for him early.” Anyway, uncle is forgetful, he can't remember so many things, and he had cancer. The doctor gave him two months to live, but the miracle is that he is still with us now, almost five months now. Uncle Laz looked at me and said, “Do you like it? I love it! I talk about Christmas, and now I can see it every day. “It’s beautiful, Uncle Laz,” I said. The owner of the home, a kind Filipina woman married to a Malaysian man, smiled. “We try to make it feel like home,” she said. “We want him to be happy.” Uncle Laz nodded. “Yes, very happy. You are all very nice.”
We stayed in the living room for a bit more and took some family pictures with Uncle Laz. Uncle Laz laughed and joked. “Boris,” he said, “you are like my nephew—quiet first, then very funny!” Boris smiled. “I guess I am like that. “Yes, yes!” Uncle Laz said. “Next time, bring more jokes. I want to hear more!” Before we left, Uncle Laz hugged each of us. “Thank you for coming. I had so much fun,” he said. “You’re welcome, Uncle Laz. We will visit again soon,” I said. On the way home, we talked about how happy they were and they enjoyed. Boris said, “I didn’t know a visit could make him so happy.” And I told him, don’t worry, we celebrate an advanced Christmas party dinner for Uncle Laz, I will post to the family group later. And they are all so excited. That day, I learned that being with someone you care about brings joy. Uncle Laz’s laugh stayed in my mind all day. Yes. Small things—visiting, talking, laughing—mean a lot.”
