3 Deaths And A Timely Realisation

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“My younger sister is dead.”

Dad said to me as I stepped out to the porch that morning. It was a fine cloudless morning and I could feel the cool breeze on my face. Dad was sitting on a cushion and was looking very distressed. The moment my ears caught the sound of his sniffling voice and looked at his face, my spirits fell. I laid a consoling hand on Dad's shoulder and told him to cheer up. His younger sister, my Aunt, had died of a brief illness last night. A call had come in to dad that morning to inform him of the sad news.

I had a lot of thoughts about this recent sad occurrence. I was quite close to my Aunt when she was still alive and we got on well. She was indeed a good person and my heart bled at the news of her untimely demise.

I had lost my dear Mom the previous year. Mom battled with cancer but finally succumbed. That means I had lost two very dear people in a span of not up to two years.

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“I wish Mom was still around so we could have this or that discussion." I usually said after mom's death.

Or

“I wish she was still around so I would show her gratuitude for all the sacrifices she made for me.”

But you know what. If wishes were horses…so sad.

The deaths of these two dear people in my life brought to my attention the fact of how we take people in our lives for granted until they are gone. I remember when we travelled to our hometown we had gone to pay a visit to my late Aunt. We went in a comfortable automobile, me my two siblings and my dad. My Aunt received and treated us well. We spent a good time together with her grown children, her husband and other members of her family. That was the new year's day.

I remember her hugging me and saying,

“You are really looking good and well."

after I greeted her in an amiable voice. Her face beamed with a gracious smile. She was genuinely happy to see us. With the next year coming, it's got me wishing she's still alive so I could visit her again and spend some time.

Another tsunami of sorrow hit me as my great Uncle also passed away this year.

“Your great Uncle has passed.”

Dad said to me in a pretty emotional voice that morning. I had just got out of bed exhausted. I was very sick at the time.

“How?” I asked

“A brief illness.” Was the reply.

“Anyway, he lived quite long. He's almost 100 or more.” I don't think dad replied to that.

These events brought into my focus the fact that the time we could still spend with our loved ones should be a cherished gift. So we don't go saying, 'I wish this or that' when they are gone. These events, though heart-rending, thought me that every moment spent with them should be utilized to the fullest. After all no one holds the key to his or her life or those of their loved ones.

“You people are all I have now,” my father would say sometimes in a serious calm voice and my heart always shook with heavy sorrow when he did. “Your mom is gone. So we must live united as a family.”

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I have a lot of uncles and aunts still living but I understood what my father was saying. That is, to live the best way you can with your loved ones that are still alive because they won't be there forever. The time you still have them should be seen as a gift and cherished and fully utilized.