Update: Please note additional details on the wake and funeral.
Sondra, aka Idler of Idle Days passed away yesterday, from Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare blood disorder. I was informed of this by her sister.
Our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.
Daryl pointed out a particular post she wrote about moving to the UK with her new love, and her plans for 2006, and he is right. It is gut-wrenching to read in the light of this shocking news. But also precious to us, because it was a rare glimpse into her personal side, her hopes, her dreams:
"I will miss my family and friends. I will miss the food, possibly shopping and above all, Singlish. I will miss my cat, the familiar smells of Singapore, the familiar sight of the lunchtime crowd in the CBD…. so many things!"
And we will miss you, girl.
Daryl's sms to me still rings in my head, "So sad! She had just found love."
I was deciding whether I should leave this original post as is, or expand it to include the links into her site, because it was really painful to to do so. Even as I write this, it is a struggle not to hold back the tears, as I piece together the links and try to look for the precious few online photos of her. But I wanted readers to know a little more about what others felt about her, and what she revealed about herself.
In another post, she talks about Being Me, and also about her friendships she made from blogging.
Tinker Tailor has a lovely shot of her on his blog. Popagandhi recalls owing her a pin. Mandrake was her lunch buddy, and also has a lovely photo of her.
Cowboy only found out when he got off the plane on the day of the funeral.
The Tomorrow team had been searching for her for weeks, and after exhausting all avenues, we decided that one of us would post a request for info on her whereabouts. In a frantic series of emails between the editors, we only knew that she was in hospital and she was delirious. The last person to speak to her on the phone was Cowboy. And then her handphone went into voice mail before he could find out which hospital she was warded in.
Days followed, with all of us taking turns to call her silent phone, or leave her smses.
Then came the news of her passing from her handphone this morning. A few of us got the sms, and I called back, to find out who had sent it. It was her sister, and she told me Idler had taken ill with a rare blood disorder and after fighting it for four weeks, her body succumbed to the illness.
We wish we could have said goodbye before you left. Sondra, you will be dearly, dearly missed.
The wake is today ONLY (1st December 2005) at Block 830, Yishun St 81. Service is at 8pm tonight. The funeral procession will leave for Mandai Crematorium at 9am on Friday morning (2nd December 2005).
