something i wrote some time ago..in memory of a lost friend...

One morning, I was informed that a close friend, who used to live next door, had passed away suddenly during the night. Over the next few blurry moments, I was told that she had been taken to a hospital for an emergency appendicitis surgery, during which she had succumbed.

At 13, death had seemed nothing more than a far fetched reality, something that would happen after at least another 50 years. This perception now shattered as I sat next to her, watching her inconsolable parents, while I myself was completely devoid of any thought or reaction.

Over the next few weeks, as the loss finally sank in, I found my own perspective towards life changing. I realized how precious a gift life truly is and how sudden death can be. How, without even a moment’s notice, everything and everyone we hold dear can be snatched away, while all we can do is look on helplessly, wishing there was something we could do, knowing that there isn’t. I regretted never having told my friend what she had meant to me until it was too late. I regretted all those fights that now seemed insignificant, and the time we wasted being mad at each other.

I subsequently found myself becoming more emotionally expressive, considerate and kind towards everyone around me. I learned that most things are too insignificant to be angry at and complain about and that we can choose to live each day to its fullest, with hope, faith and love. Some where along the way, I subconsciously resolved to live a life of conscious choices and no regrets.

My friend’s face, as she slept peacefully, still bring tears to my eyes as I remember the last words she had written in her dairy,

“…the aim in life is not walk fast but far