Nur Aireen Jannah, you deserve a special post on my feed and on my blog.

Nur Aireen Jannah, you deserve a special post on my feed and on my blog.

Assalamualaikum, Aireen.

Today is the first day I wake up having lost you as a friend. We didn’t know each other for very long. This month would’ve been exactly three years, ever since 2022 when Abang Wan joined Khalifah Group.

I wasn’t someone very close to you, not as close as Boss, the KG team, or colleagues who worked with you daily. But since every month Abang Wan received Toppers Treat, I followed along. And somehow, it was always the two of us who were the only women at the table. Maybe that’s why we became close. Both of us knew that every month we would end up talking about things no one else did with you. Because I wasn’t a colleague, our conversations were always different, always a little special.

Every time we met, you always asked about what I wrote on my blog. Without fail, your first question would be:

“Macamana you dapat idea menulis, Diana? Your writing I boleh baca from satu perenggan ke satu perenggan. Habis perenggan atas, perenggan bawah lagi best, perengan bawah dari tu lagi best. I baca sampai habis. You memang suka membaca ke?”

You asked this every single time.

Today I want to write about us. I’ll put this on my blog together with our pictures too, but this time, you won’t be reading it.

We had such a good time in Paris. Remember the four of us - Abang Wan, me, Boss, and you - menapak all the way from Parc des Princes stadium to find breakfast sebab merchandise store lambat bukak? The distance felt endless just for a cup of coffee 😆. Then menapak all the way back again. And the queue! Ya ampunnn, panjang nak mampus.

After that we shared a cab to Galeries Lafayette. You meracun I masuk LV store untuk dapatkan experience saja. We queued so hard just to take pictures with the bags, didn’t buy anything. LOL! The sales assistant was Japanese, happily chatting in Nihongo with our husbands. Speaking Japanese inside a boutique in Paris 🤣.

Then we wandered around the perfume section laughing at the names. Some sounded like mencarut! We laughed like crazy in there.

Then we had Japanese food outside Lafayette before walking again all the way to Hard Rock Café. I swear we each lost 1kg that day.

That same year, we went for umrah together. On the day of departure I was still on my period. I told you I might not get the chance to enter Raudhah. You told the ustaz, and he took me to buy the necessary medicine. That was you, always thinking of others. Because of that, I managed to enter Raudhah.

That night, we prayed side by side before entering Nabawi. In Raudhah, we also prayed side by side. After that, we walked back to the hotel together. We were hungry, remember? But our husbands were busy cari daging unta, so the two of us ate together at the hotel.

In Makkah we didn’t see each other as much because we followed our husbands. It was your first umrah, after all, so Abang Wan said you should just follow Boss closely.

Then last August we went to Melbourne together. Boss didn’t come, so Abang Wan said we had to walk with you, take care of you. Everywhere we went, always the three of us. Remember when u bought jersey for Boss, we hasut you “Kalau balik nanti Boss tak jemput you kat airport, jangan bagi dia baju tu!” You gelak sampai keluar air mata!

On the first day kat Melbourne, during lunch break, we prayed together while everyone else was still eating because we were worried it would get crowded. Just the two of us in that “surau” without a qiblat sign, struggling to find the direction because the internet was slow.

The next day at the Animal Farm, remember how open the prayer space was, people could see us from all directions? The carpet was damp because of the cold air. Basah je dahi kita masa sujud. And the moment we finished praying, a peacock walked right onto the prayer mat. We both jumped. I menjerit macam nak gila, you gelakkan I sampai tak keluar suara.

At Chadstone Mall, the three of us searched for perfumes from one end to the other. Gigihnya kita googled harga kat Malaysia at every counter. That night you wanted to buy chocolates, but I couldn’t follow because of my period pain. You were so kind, you bought two big packs one for me, one for Abang Wan.

I never expected that after Melbourne together in August, on 7 October we would have our last meal together. It was monthly treat, combined with Abang Wan’s birthday celebration. You had a fever. I thought it was just the influenza season. But it wasn’t. After two weeks of on-and-off fever, the doctor diagnosed cancer.

I terkejut. I texted you immediately. But you were so positive and tenang. On your first day in the ward, you still had your laptop, still talking to the KG team about work. With that positivity, I was sure you would win this battle. Since then, I made sure to always text you, always check on you. I wanted you to recover because we still had so many places to eat together.

The second time I visited, you looked thinner, but still warm and friendly, still chatting as usual. You pesan to recite Al-Fatihah for you. I wanted to break down but I didn’t want to upset you. I cium dua-dua belah pipi you, hugged and said “I’ll come again next week.”

When I received your message at 5:40 am regarding the bad news and your critical condition, I froze. Why did it spread so fast? You were already doing treatment. I asked Abang Wan, why? What went wrong? Why was your liver getting worse? I even snapped at him like it was his fault.

The third time I visited you was last Sunday. You were lying down, too weak to sit up without help. But even then, you still talked about your plans with the KG team. You were happy because the doctor allowed you to go home for a while before being admitted again on Monday (tomorrow). I told you that once you were home, I’d visit you. I’d bring whatever food you wanted.

On Friday, Abang Wan told me you were admitted again because you felt unwell right after reaching home. Boss didn’t allow visitors yet, you were too weak. I thought, okay, I’ll visit next week.

Then yesterday evening, a little after 6, while I was ironing clothes, Abang Wan called. I was shocked when I heard him crying. He was on his way to see a client.

“Di… Aireen dah takde.”

I was so stunned my ears went silent like all sound disappeared except a faint ringing. I broke down 😭.

After Isyak we went to the hospital to see you. When I entered the ward, your body had already been covered in kain batik. So many people came. I sat on the sofa and baca Yassin. Menitik-nitik airmata I jatuh kat phone screen. I didn’t ask for the kain batik to be lifted. I didn’t want to see you in that state.

This morning, very early, we went back to the hospital. We followed the van jenazah from behind. The KG team was there too. I prayed at the mosque. But this time, you were in front of me, not beside me anymore.

When the imam angkat takbir, airmata i keluar nonstop. Aireen, we will never hug each other again after prayer. I didn’t take a single photo at the mosque. I never looked at your face, not once. I didn’t want that to be my memory. I want to keep only kita dalam keadaan happy cantik-cantik.

Thank you for this friendship. Three years isn’t long, but every month, every trip, we shared something different. And that made us close in a special way.

You will always be remembered. Goodbye, Aireen. I’ll see you again.

Click here: Our photos