Brevity...

Brevity....

def: shortness of time or duration; briefness: the brevity of human life

Did you realised how quickly this weekend went by? Mum came by on Sunday, made her a long black, chatted over leftover mooncakes. We browsed old magazines with mouth-watering recipes and discussed how she thought making green curry was as easy as ABC. Mum has been harping I should learn some of her signature dishes and gets pretty disturbed that I have not taken an interest in learning how to cook our all-time favourite dishes. I showed her recently taken pictures of her grandchildren at school, their achievements and how they were doing in school. We later had dinner, shared a plate of mee goreng with her and sipped teh-chinno. It was a moment I cherished. Time, whisked away every second, never to return.

To make a point, you yearn for a fun packed weekend as the work week had just been plain weary, all you needed is to have some interesting read by the pool, about lifestyles, motoring, cooking, food reviews or what a sommelier's last meal would be. Morbid. Then, on the front page of Sunday Times, reporting a hit and run accident in London causing an premature end to a young life all of 20. Not an ordinary girl she was, she was an exceptionally bright young lady pursuing medicine in Cambridge, a darling and star student that would do Singapore very proud. Probably a top notch surgeon after she graduates with top class honours. Nope, it was not meant to be. Wrong place, wrong time. She is dead. That gets you thinking A LOT. Brevity of life. Period.

I lost a classmate in 2006 to cancer. We met when when we were 14. Full of zest for life. She literally pranced while the little bells attached to her purse jingled as she walks. Her parents are food stall owners but in our 21 years of friendship, she never once brought us there to sample what her parents sold for a livelihood. Their daily takings that would eventually see her complete her university education in Singapore and then an all expense paid Europe trip as a reward. She should have been more proud of them than anything else that mattered to her. Among the five of us in our clique, she was the only one that made it to university. We knew she could go very far. As commerce was her strength, she worked for a local bank after graduation. She shared a Mercedes coupe with her husband. That was their baby. With her condition, she could never conceive. Not that she wanted to, as she is widely travelled, having children on tow, milk bottles and diapers would dampen (pun not intended) any trip. She wasn’t ready. The months preceding her departure, her husband continued piling her with overseas trips. She maintained normalcy, shopped for wigs, went for facials, and I remembered our last meal together with another close buddy. “Hey girls, when I am gone, you two must continue this makan thing ok, there’ll only be the two of you.” About a month later she didn’t know who we were. Brevity, she left us prematurely at 35. I was with her a day before she passed. I couldn’t understand life and why she wasn’t lucid anymore. I wanted to shake her so badly as I wanted her to know I was there to see her. Morphine was her only comfort. We took our leave reluctantly as her husband needed more time with her than us. But we knew that was the last we will see of her. Ironically, her husband remarried that same year. He gave us a whole new meaning to “move on in life”. I couldn’t fathom the logic and I obviously cannot count. I am side-tracking here, but its rather disturbing.

Why do I kiss my boys before they go to bed each night? God's agenda has and will always be a mystery. Kiss and make up, never go to bed feeling resentful over someone. Tomorrow may never come. Have you ever notice how lovely your babies are they are asleep. They are the most beautiful creatures. So serene, so innocent. God forbid, don’t ever take them away from me. That’s also why I tell them I love them forever and ever amen. Two and a half months ago, I received a rude call on a weekend informing me a student from my the school I worked at fell six floors from his apartment. But I just saw the boy on Friday? He was only ten and what was going to happen to his twin? They were inseparable and how would his mum feel? I cannot imagine a mother losing a child and I refuse to understand. The only word that came to mind was WHY? It was the saddest weekend ever. The twins were always playing “guess who am I” with me at the office during snack time. Pure and innocent. Taken with such cruel abruptness. No more guessing games and I don’t even know what to say to the remaining twin except for an uncomfortable hello. I miss the boy. I miss seeing them together.

Do not fret the small things. Make the trip to see your friends, relatives, visit mum and dad. You don’t need a reason to see them. Wanting to see them is already a reason. Life isn't a drama series, predictable and always at the same time and channel. Embrace the real time, the here and now. That is what matters. Procrastination gets you nowhere, only regrets.

You will reap a more meaningful life if you consider the fragility of life and its brevity. I have to stop now as I need to go tell me boys something….