#4. and my 29th

Salaam!

Dear Khaulah,

Last Thursday I received a text from a friend, greeting my birthday in Hijrah. I laughed haha.. Even me myself never knew my birthday in Hijrah calendar! Actually I never bothered to check it, my birthday for me is just another day. But still... I'm already 29 years old eh?

When I was younger, I used to play computer games, Football Manager. In that game, and in fact in real life too, a professional player will be at the peak of their careers when their age is around 28 to 31 years old. That's why professional players usually hang their boots in their early 30's. Sorry if you still can't understand this by the time you first read this letter, but my point is as long as energy and motivation matters, the peak of them should be around this time. Even as a manager, people don't tend to buy players at this age, rather trying to sell them. So that's why, Khaulah, I'm a bit worried because even all this time I still cannot do my best in doing what I do, be it in pleasing Allah, leading the family, amar ma'ruf and nahi munkar and so on. Do you know? Sayyidina Umar al-Khattab was said to embrace Islam when he was 28. By that time he was already almost at his best. His strength, his courage, his influence and his contribution to Islam. I pray that Allah make us strong and steadfast on His path. O Allah, give me the fortitude to be an Umar of my time.

Oh by the way, last Thursday was also a farewell ceremony to my colleague who is retiring soon. In fact he's a friend to my dad. I guess that's the last of them. When I first came to this department more than three years ago, there was quite a number of my dad's friend working for their last few years before retirement. It was strange at first, almost funny. But it sure was pleasant :) They taught me many things, give advises sometimes, tell stories about their time with my dad and so on. And this last one happened to be the Headmaster when I first entered Primary School, which was already demolished a long time ago. Time sure flies fast, Khaulah.

I guess thats it for today :)

Love,
Dad.

P/s: You were fast asleep all the way to daycare this morning, looking forward to seeing you soon!