On Death

The typical me would often send forwarded quotes to friends through SMS. It just so happened that a friend sent me a message and I was touched. So I edited it and forwarded it to friends. It read:

"Patay na si Karen kaninang 6:30. Mama nya 'to."
(Karen died last 6:30. It's her mom.)
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"What if totoo?" (What if it were true?)
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"Would you care?"
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"Would you even bother?"
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"Would you shed a tear?"
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"Sana..." (I hope so.)

When I got the message from a friend, I was shocked after I read the first line. But since I am not that gullible and I like to get to the bottom of things, I pressed the down key. After a slight anger for sending me that type of message, which nearly gave me a heart attack, I found it funny. Then I realized that this person, whom I've never seen yet, meant something to me. Because the thought of her dying made me panic in disbelief.

I got a variety of reactions after sending that message. One friend called my mobile, the other my landline just to be sure. And when he realized it was me who answered with a laugh, he swore and asked why I did that. But then he had not scrolled the message yet. So, he doesn't know it actually contained something substantial, not just me wanting some attention.

One friend got worried that there was something wrong with me. Nothing. I might be insane sometimes but I'm not clinically psychotic. Another friend literally sat down in disbelief and was worried, but good for him that he scrolled down. Another laughed it off and told me I was just being silly again. One was irritated and told me to stop it coz it's not funny. Another told me I just have nothing to do. While one of them got so scared of the thought of losing a friend like me.

Some reactions were exaggerated but I was happy knowing that there are some people who care for me. But these different reactions, whether they scrolled down or not, made me wonder why death is such a big deal. Maybe because I am young and I have a lot ahead of me. Usually, it's harder to bear compared to an older person dying. It's a scary thought but yes, we all die... eventually. Well, anything we don't know or understand IS SCARY. But again I ask, what if it were true? Anything is possible.

That message I received made me realize that I haven't showed her how much I care. It made me think that I wanna spend time hanging out with her and that I wanna talk to her about all the topics we could think of. Yes, she meant something and her message stirred me up a bit. Perhaps I should not take her (or other people I love and care for) for granted.

That message I gave out made me think of how I'm living my life right now. Am I truly happy? Perhaps I shouldn't take life for granted.