Death. It is the inevitable conclusion to one cycle in the circle of life. It is something that we must learn to accept and as we grow older, the idea becomes more and more relevant.
Life is full of potential. Each of us are put into this world to try to satisfy that potential, whatever it may be. It is up to us to make a conscious effort each day to do so, and in turn, we hopefully pass what we learn and accomplish onto our future generations for them to be even greater. Some people will live to say that they have done for themselves, their loved ones, their community, and their future generations. Some choose not to fulfill their potential. Others are simply not given the chance.
On the afternoon of January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the island of Haiti. Tens of thousands, possibly even more, perished in this tragedy. These people were never given any chance to accomplish all that they can. To make matters worse, the level of poverty in Haiti is preventing those who survive from getting back on their feet and making a full recovery any time soon. It’s truly sad how many lives were ruined, how much potential was lost in this one natural disaster.
There comes a time
When we head a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know love is all we need
-Michael Jackson, We Are the World
Similar to these people, a good acquaintance of mine, Bhavin Desai, recently passed away. While I have not kept in contact with him since he graduated from high school, it was painful and saddening to hear about this. He was such a brilliant and happy kid. I met him in FBLA and I was amazed by how quickly he could learn random facts. He was always so nice to everyone and was always willing to lend a hand. He always made sure I didn’t feel out of place in FBLA before any of my friends joined the club. Anyway, it’s just so sad that a kid who could have potentially done something great had to lose his life so early before he had a chance to prove himself. I guess I could say that it’s almost not fair. But such is the circle of life.
The thing that prompted me to write this blog post actually happened last Monday. My dad was dropping me off at school and while saying good-bye, he started crying. Basically, my grandma has Alzheimer's and Parkinson Disease. She was hospitalized in September or October because of a high fever due to an infection. Since then, she’s been bed-ridden and can no longer talk. Since being discharged from the hospital, she’s been in a nursing home. My dad would go visit her practically every single day. When I was home over break, I realized how tolling this was on my dad. He leave home for work at around 5:30 in the morning and he wouldn’t get home until around 8 at night because he would go visit her after work. Anyway, over the past few weeks, my grandma’s condition has been worsening and they had to put her back into the hospital. She’s been losing blood for no explainable reason and her blood sugar is uncontrollable. Basically, she’s not doing too well at all. As my dad was dropping me off, he told me that if grandma passes away while I’m at school, I’ll have to go home. I nodded in agreement and then my dad started crying. I gave him a hug and he got in the car. That was the second time I had ever seen my dad cry. The first was when my grandma called one night from Taiwan telling my dad that my grandpa had passed away. I was really young the first, but this time, I noticed how devastated my dad seemed and it transposed onto me as well.
For the first few days after this, I couldn’t help but thinking about it. I went to see my grandma once over break and I realized how much I would regret not going to see her again if something were to happen to her while I’m at school.
Even though she’s dying of old age, it’s still really hard to accept. The few days after this all happened, I just kept flashing back to memories of when I was little and my grandparents would come visit from Taiwan. I’m sure my grandma has had a fulfilling life and has done her share to make a difference.
Basically this whole post sums down to one thing. Time doesn’t wait. It’s important to take advantage of every minute of the day. Who knows what might happen in the next minute. Because we can’t tell the future, we must do everything possible in the moment to accomplish as much as we can.
