Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts

Friday, August 16, 2013

The Wheels of Life

...go round and round. That sounds so Buddhist and karma-ish but I am actually commenting on this little illustration that was posted by one of my friends on Facebook today. 




It brought to mind my late mother-in-law's declaration that it is of utmost importance for a person to be able to eat and to walk in old age. Only then would a long life be meaningful. 

She used to be a nurse and so she had seen how important it is to be able to eat in order to give one strength and energy to survive...and to walk, which translates to independence. 

To live wheel-ey well in your old age you should, for a start, make sure you take good care of your teeth 'cos that will enable you to eat well. That, in turn, will give you the energy to avoid the two sets of wheels found in the bottom centre two squares of the illustration above. 

Unfortunately for my MIL, she could not avoid those two sets of wheels but it was not because she did not eat well. Even when she was ill she would force herself to eat in order to have strength for the day but towards the end of her illness, she was not able to walk as a result of a collapsed spinal column due to osteoporosis. 

We eventually bought her a wheel-chair but she passed away very soon after. She only used it for a very, very short period of time; barely a month if I am not mistaken. She was an independent and self-reliant person and losing her independence broke her spirit.

Some of us may avoid those two sets of wheels found in the bottom two squares of the illustration above but no one can avoid the last set of wheels; none except those who are ready when Jesus returns for His own. 

Saturday, July 3, 2010

A Very Sad Day

Last week I went to two wake services. One was the 85-year old mom of a pastor friend. The other was for the 11-year old daughter of a friend who succumbed to the injuries sustained from a four-storey fall from the roof of their townhouse.

The grief and pain for her parents must have been unbearable. I remember an auntie telling me that losing a child is the most painful of all bereavements. She was speaking out of her experience of having lost parents, siblings and even a spouse.

Children should be attending the funeral of their parents, not the other way round. And the loss of a child at such a tender age is simply incomprehensible.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Good Bye Farrah

Today is so dreary with so many deaths.

Not only did we say good bye to the King of Pop, today also marks the end of a long battle with cancer for Farrah Fawcett, one of the original three angels in the hit 1970s TV series "Charlie's Angels."

Her luxurious mane of tumbling, blond curls and that dazzling smile of hers made her a popular pin-up girl among the men and an icon of feminine beauty to a whole generation of women.

A friend remembers a Farrah Fawcett poster adorning the wall of her brothers' den and we recall all the hip and trendy girls at that time sporting a Farrah Fawcett hairstyle.

Yup, those were the days.

Michael Jackson Is Dead

I thought my friend at the Star was pulling my leg when I called up early this morning to check on some deadlines.

Val: Why are you calling? Because your boyfriend Michael Jackson die already is it?

Me: (still in the dark) No. lah. Not my boyfriend also.....

I only found out that she wasn't pulling my leg after I got off the phone. I couldn't believe it. He was only 50.

Despite all the controversy surrounding him and his bizarre behaviour, it is an indisputable fact that Michael Jackson is a musical genius and an amazing performer who singlehandedly revolutionized the music and dance scene.

The world will mourn his passing.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Meteor Melinda

"I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me
in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."
- Jack London

I read this quote and somehow my thoughts went off at a tangent to those brain-dead patients who are being kept alive by machines.

What's the point in living if you're being kept alive by a machine? What is so alive about that?

That's why I'm a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) proponent and I am definitely against the use of any machinery to keep me alive. At my age, I don't believe in prolonging the agony for myself and my loved ones. I also don't believe my loved ones should be wasting all that money that would be better channeled to those who are living. If it's God's will that I should live then I shall live, with or without the machine.

After all as Christians, what is there to fear about death?

Having said that, and in case you think I'm getting morbid, let me end with:

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

- Horace, in Odes Book I

which translates as:

While we're talking, envious time is fleeing: seize the day, put no trust in the future.

Yes, let's seize the day, and live! And when it's time to go, let's go!

Kazoom! I'm a meteor.