SAD REFLECTIONS: Norazarina (centre) with her sons and relatives at the burial
The difficult part in handling her husband's sudden death was breaking the heartbreaking news to her two young sons.
"Mak, kenapa orang panggil babah 'hero'?" (Mom, why does everyone call dad a hero?)
This was the question that Norazarina Jaafar had to answer to her eight-year-old son on the day his father, Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, was buried at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Muslim cemetery in Serdang.
Noramfaizul, the Bernama TV cameraman killed while covering a humanitarian aid mission led by Putera 1Malaysia Club to Somalia on Sept 2, was laid to rest two days later.
"During the burial, my elder son Mohd Irfan saw a T-shirt worn by his father's office mate that bore the words 'Noramfaizul, anda lah wira kami' (Noramfaizul, you are our hero).
"I was taken aback when my son asked about that. Though I had to spontaneously find an answer, I slowly explained to him of his father's death," she told The Malay Mail yesterday.
"I told him his father was a national hero and that he sacrificed his life for the nation. I told him he should be proud of his father," said the 37-year-old.
It was the first time Norazarina chose to speak to the Press following the death of her husband in Mogadishu.
Her other son is three-year old Mohd Aris.
"Irfan was curious about the wordings on the t-shirt. But now that he understands more about what happened, he has started to accept his fate."
Norazarina said it was hard having to tell her boys about their father's death as they were close to him.
"Both my sons were close to him, but it was my elder boy who was more attached to him. He found it hard accepting the fact that his father was no longer alive.
"Irfan and Aris spend a lot of time making model cars with their father. So they both feel a huge void when suddenly their father was no longer around to do all that with them," she said.
"On the night after the burial, Aris had difficulty in sleeping; he kept glancing at his father's picture," said Norazarina, who resides near her father-in-law's house in Seri Kembangan.
Norazarina said since that day, she spends more time with her boys to help fill that loneliness. She said she and her boys had been going out for dinners, shopping and meeting people more.
She said since the incident, there was a string of people, including Noramfaizul's friends, visiting her family.
"Those who visited us were a source of much comfort, making my sons and I feel stronger in facing the reality."
She said her parents, sister in-law and relatives had helped much in keeping the family together.
"My parents and sister-in-law live near my house, so it's not a problem for us to visit one another often."
When asked about donations from people, Norazarina said some contributions had been received.
Norazarina said despite the odds, she and her sons were slowly making their way past these trying times.
"I'm just grateful my sons have started to accept the fact that they have lost their father."
She said she and her sons would return to Norazarina's home town in Johor Baru this weekend.
