Farewell to an Angel

We lost a friend over the weekend. It was sudden and unexpected. And it pains us to think that she would no longer be around. Just a mere 40 years with 2 young kids and a loving husband. After more than 20 years of friendship, in just an instant, she is gone.
And now we regret not talking to her, calling her more often and telling her how we appreciated her friendship, her kindness, her gentleness, her patience, her caring heart since we got to know her in the Hall. At that time she was a young freshette who was undergoing Orientation and somehow stood out as a beautiful person and my future wife had the good fortune of being her 'Counsellor'. And this friendship blossomed even beyond our undergraduate days. We attended her wedding and then visited occasionally as she bore two wonderful children and built a home for the family.
Our recollection goes back to the time in the hostel when we just enjoyed her conversations- they were alway very engaging and humourous as she related her stories- human stories..and of course some hot spicy gossip. Her kindness shone through when she bought a pair of slippers for my wife at a time when she fractured her ankle. We were touched by it. Being foreign students, we realised for that first time in the Hall that there were kind Singaporeans around, after all. Some years later, while my wife was moving out of the Hall, she got her father to drive his car to help my wife transport her stuff (books, boxes of knick knacks, etc) to another location. And when we had our own kids of our own some years later, she gave her (husband's) old piano to us. This enabled our daughters to learn their music in the early years. Our eldest daughter owes her early musical 'career' to her! She is now a budding musician and composer... in school that is!
There are many more kind acts that she has done but which we ungrateful folks have probbaly forgotten and which many other friends of hers will be able to recall. We just know that this girl was an angel to us.
It is just hard to believe that she has died. We cried as we saw her lifeless body in the box. That couldn't be our friend JP- our friend was full of life and energy. Looking at her obituary in the press was even more surreal. Never in our worst nightmares could we have imagined what was to come for this sweet human being- one of the kindest persons in the world struck by cancer, who was in remission but tragically died so suddenly in her husband's arms over the weekend.
Numbness, shock, disbelief, sadness, grief, regret- just some of the emotions that we experienced. We knew what to expect when one loses somebody important- at least the theory of it..but nothing beats losing your angel.
And so JP, if you are looking at us now from above- we want you to know that we love you and that we will sorely miss you, our angel from the Hall. Thank you for all that you have done for us. Sorry that this came a bit late and sorry for not spending more time with you as we headed into our own hectic lives. But in our minds, we will always treasure the memories of your smiling face, your interesting conversations and your kindness (at a time when we had lost faith in the human race). And especially that one presious conversation over the phone just about a month before you left us. We hope that you will find eternal peace and happiness in your new 'home' and that one day when our time is up as well, that we will reunite with you and catch up on the old stories once again as we used to do before in the Hall. Till then, farewell our angel and may you sleep peacefully till the dawn comes.

What's the Worth of a Life in These Times?

Sad to hear the terrible things happening in these gloomy times. People taking their own lives with some taking along the lives of others. Billionaires self-destructing one after another. If one values one's worth according to the material wealth that one possesses and is driven by that one purpose in life, ie to accumulate wealth, then it explains why when somebody loses that wealth, he loses his worth, his sense of purpose....everything. Life would then become meaningless and worthless.

For those losing their jobs, it can lead to the same sense of worthlessness and purposelessness. If your job was everything to you, the loss would be unimaginable as well.

As the storm clouds gather and we head into the tumultuous ocean, we must put things in perspective in order to maintain our personhood and our integrity as humans. Or we will self-destruct as well. With the current downturn it would be a good time to take stock and reflect on the existential issues of life. Life is more than just the physical which is just one dimension of the human being. We must not forget the social, emotional and the spiritual aspects of life- these don't cost anything yet they are priceless....no circumstance can rob you of these; you lose them only if you decide so.

Please do not forget the many treasures that we have- our family, our friends, our colleagues, our memories, our experiences, our health...and many many more. And of course for those with a religion- our faith.

No matter what one's circumstance may be, just remember that this day is all we have, yesterday is now a mere memory and tomorrow is just an illusion (quoted from another source). All we have are today and this moment and this life- treasure it, savour this one precious life and exclaim each day of how great it is to be alive and thank God for that one more precious day of life.