Life Is Short

(This entry is dedicated to my dear friend, Mun Kong)

Life Is Short.

Such a cliché.

I know.

But something happened today that proved it right:

A friend of mine passed away today, and he's only 22.

As I'm not very closely associated with him, I had no idea of this happening until my best friend called me from the States in tears, only did I found out.

No, he did not die in a hit-and-run, nor did he die in a gang fight or the likes. Neither did he commit suicide in any way.

He was in a coma before he passed away. In a very crude way, he's a vegetable. I know it's very offensive to say so, but due to certain ciscumstances, he's been impaired mentally, which in turn caused him to be physically impaired as well.

As far as I know, this friend of mine had just finished lunch one day with a group of friends and was leaving the place (shopping place, I think) and he had this sudden urge to throw up the food he just consumed. He resisted the urge to do so which resulted in the food being caught in his windpipe. This caused a blockage and oxygen was not transferred to his brain and he fainted.

His friends thought he was joking around but as soon as they realised he wasn't kidding, they sent him to the nearest hospital but by then, it was too late. The doctors managed to revive him but due to the lack of oxygen in his brain, he suffered brain damage and he was unresponsive to the surroundings, or rather has fallen in to a coma.

The doctors placed him on tubes and the beeping machines to sustain his life and after several weeks, when his condition became stable, they took it off him and sent him home. According to my best friend, he reacted a little when they played his songs by Nirvana, his favorite rock group/band. But that was it. He couldn't eat on his own, he couldn't do anything at all.

And now he's gone.

Probably to a better place, where he won't be suffering, where he might be better off then lying on the bed the entire day and not being able to do anything he likes.

Rest in peace, my dear friend.

The Chinese always gives a wreath of flowers to the deceased as a form of respect, and the wreath of flowers above are for you. Although the usual flowers are white chrysanthemums, I cannot tolerate the sight of them as they represent death, pain and the passing away of a loved one too much.

You'll be missed, dearly that is.

I've experienced this before. This being having a loved one passes away near the coming of a festive season. My grandpa passed away three years ago, somewhere around this time, when CNY is just round the corner. It's not the best of times I can tell you. I grew up with him and he loved me and my baby bro a lot which makes it hurt even more. Everything was just sad, foreboding and every other word that is related to bleak-ness and sigh, sadness.

Not to mention that it brings back sad memories every time Chinese New Year comes around. It's gonna be worse for my friend's parents because he's still so young and full of promise. I feel deeply for them.

My deepest condolences.