Dying Young

the pccg lesson we had earlier today was on resilience.
we looked at the lives of terry fox, and closer to home, dr william tan.
both are persons who are immensely resilient -
able to face their physical handicap bravely,
and despite of their disabilities,
thought about people who needed help
and worked tirelessly to raise funds for the needy.

as i was preparing for the lesson,
i thought about another example of a resilient person.
that is joan chan, an ex rgs/rjc girl,
who died at the age of 19.
although her physical body succumbed to cancer,
her spirit did not.
she was described as a 'fighter' by all who knew her,
and in her own words too.
you can read what she said on her blog http://onlyskindeep.blogspot.com/
and on the blog her friends created for her http://joanchanshufang.blogspot.com/

it's a great loss when someone young dies.
the only instance when i've experienced someone from school dying,
was when i was in my second year at junior college.

2 first year girls (one formerly fr rgs, another fr nygh) drowned after their raft went under water on an obs trip.
i remember on the next day,
the student council put out 2 condolence books
and we all went to put in our messages of sympathy.
the whole school was in mourning,
and the atmosphere was quite gloomy for some time.
the vice principal teared when she addressed us a few days after that,
she told us how she'd make sure she kissed her own children every morning from that day on,
knowing how fragile life could be.

i later learnt that one of my friends was the 'angel' of one of the deceased girls,
(the girl was in his junior class, and was his 'mortal' in the angel-mortal game)
and the day before the accident,
she'd written a letter to him.

it's sad when young lives are lost,
when we think of the unfulfilled promises and aspirations,
what they might have achieved.

in the case of terry fox and joan chan --
when we see how resilient they were before they passed on,
and how their spirit touched thousands of people -
people who used to complain about minor discomforts in their lives
but became converted and found new meaning in their lives
when they realize what they're suffering is nothing compared to terry fox and joan --
then we know that their legacy and their fighting spirit have lived on,
blessing the generations to come.

having said that,
do value your life
and try to achieve your dreams!
The Best is Yet to Be!
(pardon me for stealing the acs motto, though i'm no acs boy, but that motto's apt here :)