the frailty of life



This is to remember uncle #1, who succumbed to lung cancer and passed on early this morning.

Death in the family is so rampant that I’ve become immune to it.
The last one was uncle #2, about 3 years ago. He lost his battle to throat cancer.
(As you can tell, it runs in the family).

As I was leaving for work this morning, I saw my dad curled up in a feotal position on the bed.
He had his back facing me so I couldn't tell for sure if he was just really tired (having been up at my uncle’s place the whole night) or grieving.
I reckon it’s the latter.

I don’t feel the loss as much as I was never really close to uncle #1.
Nonetheless, losing someone in the family is never easy.
Having said that, the pain is somehow pacified by the fact that we sort of saw it coming.
It was only a matter of time.

That is what terminal illnesses give you- time.
The dying - time to make amends and to do everything you've ever wanted.
The living - time to make amends and to prepare yourself for the worst.

Of my 3 uncles who've all lost their lives to cancer, uncle #1 is the most resilient.
He was fine and dandy for a couple of years having survived colon cancer.
And then last year the doctors detected cancer cells in his lungs. One of his lungs had collapsed.
He had to quit smoking (for obvious reasons).
Up until a month or two ago, he could still drive himself to the market, do his shopping and cook for the family. All this with ONE lung.

He lived out his life, whatever that was left of it, to the fullest.
It just saddens me that he isn't living out the rest of it in eternity.