My DrEaMviLLe

        Life is short… and unpredictable! Don’t you agree with this statement? Here’s a sad story that made me realised once again, how fragile one’s life can be… One thing’s for sure: DEATH IS THE HARDEST THING TO DEAL WITH!

       13th June 2006… was a very miserable day for my friend (who lived nearby my house), and for me as well… Her father passed away suddenly, because of heart attack… Imagine this: Apparently, he was doing some work using the computer in the office. All of a sudden, he just got up from the chair and collapsed. He barely struggled (he did not even touch his chest like what a person who got heart attack would usually do), just for a few seconds, and died on the spot. It seemed that he had a block for the second time, from the post-mortem report. My friend and her family did not know about the first block incident. This illness was not because of his unhealthy lifestyle or what-so-ever (his cholesterol level was under control), it was inherited from a parent. What a blow wasn’t it? You know someone as a healthy person, but out of nowhere, he just slipped away, forever!

       I was still sleeping when my step mom came into the room and I myself just woke up abruptly (as if it was a sign). She said that our neighbour told her that the father of the Indian girl who’s always with me, had just passed away. Since I was still in a blur after waking up in such an abrupt manner, I just thought I heard wrongly. But step mom repeated what she just said, and kept saying, "Neh, that Indian girl who lives over there wan ah"… I was so caught by surprise, I kept saying no, it couldn’t be her father… And step mom was like, "If you don’t believe, you can ask our neighbour"… I jumped from my double-decker bed and ran towards the living room. My neighbour’s daughter explained everything to me. I was still in shock when my neighbour’s daughter confirmed it was my friend’s father. At that moment, it felt as if my heart was torn in two… Why was I so emotional? This was because, I was closest to my friend’s family compared to my other frens’ family (especially their parents), as I would always go over to her house to have a talk all. Besides, her dad, whom I just call "Uncle", often send us here & there… Step mom told me to go to my friend’s house to see her… I didn’t even dare to go… I thought for a while, and decided that I should give her best friend a call first. When I broke the news to her, she was surprised as well. I mean, come on lah, no one would believe it, it was soooooo sudden! She said she would be at my friend’s house as soon as possible (she was working) & told me to inform a friend (who happened to live nearby my house) ’cause nobody picked up the phone. Again, another shocking response… I asked her if she would want to go over to our friend’s house. So, we went together.

        I was afraid to go because I wouldn’t know what to say when I see her… At least now that I have someone else to go with me. It was a solemn situation at my friend’s house. When I entered her house, I saw her mother, she was crying and both of us were speechless as I held her hand. I could only mutter, "Aunty"… Then, I excused myself to see my friend who was sitting inside. When she saw me, she said in tears, "Lam, how could this happen la? How la now? Nobody is going to support the family (her mom’s a housewife, she & her siblings are still studying). God should see first ma, consider us who are not working la…etc…" Nonetheless, I was speechless. I just kept patting & sweeping her back. I couldn’t search for the right words to say. I knew that she probably wouldn’t even listen to what I would be saying. Her father was the family’s sole breadwinner. I told her, there would be help from Perkeso all… but she was not listening. I totally empathized what she was feeling. When my mom passed away, I was only 14, still way too young & immature to know that it was a big deal, until a few months later. I finally realised that mom was gone for real; she wouldn’t be with me anymore. And now for my friend, she’s just mature enough to know how awful it is to have a loved one leaving us, once & forever… My friends & I had a tough time convincing her that her dad would still be with her, spiritually… I kept telling her that I always feel my mom’s presence around me (It’s true… Whenever I’m being let down by life’s obstacles, I’d turn to God & my mom, I’d tell her my problems as if she was right there beside me. Somehow I know she’s watching over me, other than God…)

        I was still in disbelief that Uncle was gone… even when I saw his body lying in the coffin. I thought to myself, "Come on LPL, we always watch all these scenes with actors in the coffin but we’d comment that we could see the actor’s chest moving caused by breathing. (Setting my eyes on Uncle’s coffin) I’m sure this is not real. Shouldn’t this be the part where I can see his chest moving? No, come on… He’s still alive (Trying hard to convince myself it was all unreal)…" Sadly, it wasn’t one of those scenes in a tv show. Reality hit me hard! How can a person just collapse and die? Even my friend kept asking that… To add salt to injury, it would be Father’s Day on 18th June… I felt extremely bad because on Saturday, June 10th, I was at her house, talking about why I didn’t want to study-"Because I’m not exactly the study type & I feel that life’s short, I don’t wanna force myself to do what I don’t wanna do and that, I don’t wanna spend my life studying only… I have the feeling that I’ll die young (because of what happened to my mom) and so I don’t wanna leave the world one day with regrets that I never have enough time to do what I want, but instead wasted it on studies only"… And I last saw Uncle on that Saturday itself, still managed to pull some jokes with him. I always have in mind, "Live life to the fullest… Live like it’s your last day… Life is short, so play hard"… All these phrases… Great, now I get to prove to my friend is it? That life is short & unpredictable! You never know what will happen next… I just don’t understand… Why are all the good people leaving so early, while all the bad guys are still alive, committing crimes… Think about the harm & hurt that rapists, murderers & robbers bring… How life is unfair, though I still believe everything happens for a reason… Well, God is behind all this and we should never doubt His mighty plans… Just that, my friend & I also felt that what happened was a bad dream and we both wished to wake up from it soon… although we knew, it was real, it happened… I wake up every morning, hoping that it was still June 13th, what happened so far was only a dreadful nightmare, but it wasn’t… I’d be singing silently, "Wake me up, when my nightmare ends"… I just felt so helpless at the funeral… Me being a talkative person, I didn’t even know what to say that time… It was really difficult… How sad it is, to know that I’ll never see that Uncle again… Would anyone please tell me, What’s the true meaning of life? Sighs~~~~~

Moral of my whole story is simple: NEVER TAKE ANYTHING OR ANYONE FOR GRANTED! LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!