Eulogy for Abraham Kenny Seow

It is always sad and much heartache when a loved one has to depart from the earthly home to a heavenly one. But that is life and we shall all go on that journey someday. It is just that some will go through it sooner than others.

Abraham Kenny Seow had good prolonged life considering that he was diagnosed with a terminal nasal / brain cancer four years ago. It was a fight that truly transformed him and strengthened his faith to the Lord.

As an elder brother-in-law, he has done some deeds that grieved family members, but eventually he has redeemed himself throughout the ordeal. And of course God sent him a good wife who stood by him for better and worse, who loved him and help him to turnaround his life.

He was an elder brother to all the family members and somewhat of jovial person who has a love for movies. My wife said that it was because mother went into labour while watching a movie in the theater. I'm not sure such a thing as your frequent doing of an interest would affect a child's character though I know his father also liked to watch movies too could be an influence while he was young.

My wife said that Abraham Kenny and I are similar when it comes to catching a movie. As far a similarity about watching movies, it ends when it comes to genre similarity. He liked more of the action slam bang types, though I do too. If the movie hasn't got a good storyline I rather not watch it. I would prefer a more thinking type story with action that blends well into it for excitement or climax to a story.

I didn’t see as much of him as I did compared with his younger brother and elder sister mainly because he worked in Penang when I first met Lena. We did have some interesting outings like when we attempted to conquer Mount Kinabalu in 2006 together with Lena, Lindy and a couple of friends. It was tough going for him having to carry extra weight against gravity to finally reached the rest house at Laban Rata. Though he didn’t carry on to reach the summit, it was a very good experience for all of us!

Off and on, we do meet up when he returned from Penang for holidays from his work. It was only when he met and married Rebecca in October 2007 that he finally settled down back to Petaling Jaya. It was also this time he rededicated his life back to the Lord. We all need a good wife and in this case a good wife helped a prodigal son to turn away from his wayward ways.

They had a good two year run before the bad news came in Feb 2009. It was a simple medical procedure to drain some fluid in his ear, but the doctor detected some anomaly and upon further test found out it was fourth stage cancer! It was a blow to his morale as well as every family member. It was this time that drastic steps and decision were taken as to how to treat this disease. It was decided not to go for the standard painful and weakening chemotherapy, instead to go for alternative treatment that were not readily accepted by the mainstream medical community.

The cancer was a stubborn one, as it was lodged in a difficult to access position in the brain and also being at the terminal fourth stage cancer. The scan indicated it has already penetrated to the bone and the prognosis was not good. Normally such cases would have been over in six months upon its discovery, but with God’s grace and mercy, his life was extended for a good three year period.

It was a time of up and down for Abraham Kenny battling with this cancer and finding the many alternative treatment each with some progress and each with its own limitation and cost involved. It was also a time that through adversity his commitment and faith to God became stronger.

Family members rallied around and chip in to source for alternative treatment. However the main bulk of searching for an effective remedy still fell on him and Rebecca. Some of the alternative treatment that they went for were actually rather expensive and I thought perhaps the practitioner may be overcharging.

Only recently were they able to find another alternative technology based on a Russian technique. Though this method was not recognized by the Western medicine, it seemed rather effective and several cancer patients actually recovered from it. Unfortunately Abraham’s cancer was deep rooted though we could see the progress it was also causing complication. Eventually the last few weeks it took a turn for worse and he was getting very weak.

Before he went on his way, my wife managed to see him for the last time on Thursday. They sang worship songs and praise the Lord for all that was done. Though he was weak he still managed to raise his hand praising God. He took his final breath around 1.30am on a Good Friday morning.

That night there were some interesting signs and miracles, Lena and Rebecca could smell a strong aroma of sweet bouquet of flowers though other people and family members couldn’t smell it. And another of Rebecca’s church member heard ringing church bells after speaking with Rebecca on the phone. It was a comfort and confirmation that Abraham Kenny has gone on to a better place.

It seems the sweet flower fragrance can be experienced by close family members when a person is passing on according to one of my church member as she and her daughter experienced it too when their father was passing on.

Although Abraham Kenny didn’t have much in this world, because of his faith and God’s plan, he has a better blessing with a good wife and family. It’s been said to put up your treasures in heaven as it is far more everlasting than material treasures.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” - 2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)
“... And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalm 23:6 (NKJV)

Have a good afterlife dear Abraham Kenny, your wife and family misses you.

Related:
Eulogy for Victor Seow Kok Leong
Happier times, Kenny and Rebecaa engagement bash
A procedure that found the cancer in Kenny

[update]

Here's something intriguing, while writing about the fragrance in the above blog, I too started to smell something sweet. A bit of a sugary sweet bouquet. It lasted for a short while even after I have completed the blog post. I know for sure nobody in my office puts on perfume and there are no perfume with this kind of smell anyway, and though I did wash my face before writing the post, the facial soap didn't have this smell. I guess the Holy Spirit was hovering around when I wrote that part.