I realized I never blogged about Eid day. Honestly, this wasn't the best Eid ever. Last year's Eid, as I recall it, was simply amazing. I don't know what it was about it that made it so special and memorable, but it was really something. The feeling of someone missing at Eid last year was strongly evident. It was my first Eid without the presence of my grandfather. However, it was an enjoyable Eid nonetheless, and I'm sure that pleased my grandfather. My grandfather had passed away months before, so the pain that was strong during the months directly following his death had lessened over the course of the year. Pain does subside over time.

This year's Eid was quite different since we were forced to act more serious than usual since my khala (mother's sister) had invited the maulana and his family over. We couldn't act like our normal, eccentric selves without the fear of embarassment. I personally thought that was disappointing, but was also too embarassed to be my usual self.

We stopped by at my mumani's (mother's sister-in-law) house for a little while. Since her father had passed away nearly a month ago, she wasn't going to my khala's house for Eid. I felt extremely sad while I was there, and seeing the pain in my mumani's face was too much to bear. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a father. I wished there was something that I could have said or done to make things better, but I knew there was not a thing that could lessen my mumani's pain. She looked up from the Qu'ran that she was reading and complimented me on how I looked. I couldn't bear it. I just felt horrible standing there in my Eid clothes and ready to enjoy the evening while she was there grieving over her father's death.

After a little bit, she left for work and my family made our way over to my khala's house. We were the first ones there, but after a short while, more and more of my family began to show up. The hours slowly passed by. After eating, all of us were sitting in the living room, dead as can be. Everyone seemed so drained of energy and life this Eid. My cousin thought playing the game 'telephone' would be a great way to break the ice, and so that's what we did! Does anyone know that game? I'm sure you all do. It was quite popular back when I was in elementary school. Anyway, so there we were sitting, a bunch of college students, high schoolers, and even college graduates, laughing and giggling like kids while playing telephone. Those moments were probably the highlights of the evening.

So although this year's Eid didn't quite match up in greatness to previous Eids, it was in the least decent. I didn't particularly have fun as I usually do, but I should be thankful for at least being able to be with my family. Some people don't have the opportunity to do that, and it'd only be selfish of me to undermine Allah's (swt) blessings.