Lives come and go... it may be your grandfather 1 year... your friend few months later... your old neighbour another... What comfort can we offer to the grieving except ensuring that their love ones are at a place better than our world, somewhere they'll never ever have to suffer ever again, with our Holy Father looking after them...
Some of you may have read the tragic story of Gary Leon Robert in the papers... Well, he was a friend of a friend of a friend... Basically, somebody who I don't know... But knowing that he's a friend of somebody who you know... hearing their story... suddenly make him no longer a random death anymore. He was a good son, a good uni student, active church member, good friend... He isn't the first sports death I know of... But somehow his story is even sadder as his family don't know what exactly happened to him, some suspecting foul play, however reports saying "death due to dehydration". Hopefully God will shed some light to bring closure to his family and friends.
Few years ago, I read about a Singaporean triathlete who was only 4 months older than me. He collapsed at the finishing line after beating his personal best record... only to be found unable to regain consciousness after that. He was also a good son, an all rounder, a good friend...
Which kinda reminded me of the year I sat for my SPM, the year my grandpa passed away... and also the same year my friend drowned during a Scout's camp. He was the oldest and only son, was gonna sit for SPM, a really good friend to all, had a girlfriend... and suddenly he isn't there anymore...
All these makes me think... Life is short... You never know when your time is up... Sports death actually scares me the most I guess... being once an athlete, I understand what's it like during your big game... You push yourself even more than the max to get that gold medal. Your body may tell you it's tired, but your mind persuades just a little more... almost there... until you don't feel any pain except the burning desire to step up on that bloody podium... Haha.. yes, I'm damn competative... sadly I don't know where that competativeness went to...
The year my grandpa died made me realised every single day there's somebody dying... A classmate's grandma passed away the week before my grandpa's passing, a girl in church suddenly died in her sleep, a friend drowned, a neighbour passed of old age... recently I found out that a senior in my school passed away due to cancer... few weeks later the landlord of my friend passed away too... and on his funeral, my friend found out one of his friends died of kidney cancer...
I guess the take home message is, treasure your love ones every single day... you never know when you might not be able to see them again...
This post is dedicated to all those who have left the world before us... May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest eternally in peace. Amen.
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