Good bye and God bless, FatAl .....

It started with some of the colleagues whispering to one another, "FatAl's back, FatAl's back". I quickly went to FatAl's cubicle.

He was in the room with the big boss. For more than half a year now FatAl has been sick. He only came into the office when he felt well enough, and that was rarely.

The last time I saw him in December, he was well enough to start using a walker instead of a wheelchair. But he didn't turn up at all in January and February.

Half an hour later a frantic MSN message popped up, "FatAl has resigned! Today's his last day!" I quickly ran over again. He was in the wheelchair again. When he turned around I saw how sick he was. He's now just skin and bones and his voice was a hoarse whisper. Tears were flowing freely among some of the staff who came to say their goodbyes. FatAl was one of the second-in-command at our office and half the office reported to him.

FatAl didn't really like talking about what was ailing him, so there were a lot of speculation about his condition. Finally, I found out from one of the senior staff.

FatAl is at the final stage of leukemia. He had suffered a relapse recently and it looks unlikely that he'll recover. He wants to spend whatever time he has left with his wife and two litttle daughters.

The rest of the afternoon the whole office was sombre. Most people left early for the day, the things that happened in the afternoon weighing heavily on their minds.