#108: Last Journey

This Monday we received bad news from Iyrisuu, Uzgen. My grandmother (from my mother's side) passed away at the age of 79, which I guess is a pretty good age for Kyrgyz people these days. My two brothers and my father packed up belongings in small bags, borrowed my uncle's old Nissan, and left Bishkek at 9pm. We were planning to visit her this weekend, but we were a few days late, unable to see living her for the last time.

My grandmother lived a pretty tough life. Born in 1932, she was married to a man and had at least two children from him. I don't know what happened, but after WWII she married my grandfather (he passed away in 1998 at the age of 83), and they had 5 children together. Her oldest daughter passed away while giving birth, and my grandmother raised her granddaughter as her own daughter. She raised 2 sons and 5 daughters. I am the second oldest out of 23 grandchildren.

Since she died during the holy month of Ramadan, people believe it is an honorable death. She was fasting, despite her illness at this age and her daughters' dissuasions. She passed away during her morning namaz (prayer), after having her breakfast early at 5 am. I guess she wanted it to happen during Ramadan.

This is a picture from the funeral. Male relatives stand weeping outside the bozüy (yurt), while women sit singing koshok (funeral songs sung by women) around my grandmother inside it. Relatives, friends, and villagers come the whole week to pay tribute to my grandmother. We left Iyrisuu after the burial and seeing off on her last journey, and promising mourning aunts and uncles to come back to visit them again. They were always afraid that we would lose contact with them after our mother passed away in 1994 and my father would marry another woman. They also wanted me and my cousin who is 4 years older than me to marry as soon as possible for our grandmother to witness happy moments.