I got a mail last night, a short email from a close friend in Indonesia. She started her line with, “[name]’s mum has just passed away. …”, and ended it soon with two lines of Buddhist chants, “Gathe gathe paragathe parasamgathe bodhiswaha….; sadhu….sadhu…sadhu.., which I did not understand; but I know they are usually said when someone has just passed away.

She said the same chants when her mum passed away some years ago. The years passed so fast; I lost count when I tried to recall how many years have passed.

[name] was our close friend too, she was my wife’s best friend, one of a few whom my wife can share her secrets with. She got married a few years ago, she met her husband in the university, and she has an adorable little daughter.

My last trip to Indonesia, I stayed a few nights at their house, they had just moved in to their new house.

One evening, we had a small reunion at their house, a few of us, friends from yester-years back in the high school, met. We had a simple steamboat meal; her mum dropped by to help out, she fried our favourite pandan fried chicken; we ate, we joked, we laughed, we had a good time together.

That evening, the house was rowdy, rowdy with laughters, rowdy for good, and good for the new house. They said the rowdiness would help to chase the evil spirits away and bring luck for the new house owners. But luck is not even close this time.

That was just last year when I went back to Indonesia to celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY).

Next week, my wife and I are going back home for the same reason. But this year and for the years to come, auntie will no longer be there for us, we all are going to miss her.

Life is indeed short. Sometimes, when we are working so hard, leaving us with no time for our family and ourselves, hearing news like this, makes us wonder why we are doing all these for; if all things are going to lead to the same path, death, and death can be so soon.

I remember there is a quote that I like very much. I found it nicely framed, and placed neatly in a drawer when we just moved in to a new place back in the college; as if the previous owner purposely left it there for us. I hanged it on the wall in our study room, and I always loved to read it every morning, because it reminded me that:

Today is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it … or use it for good.
But what I do today is important because
I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes,
This day will be gone forever.
Leaving in its place
Something that I have traded for it.
I want it to be gain and not loss,
Good and not evil,
Success and not failure,
In order that I shall not regret
The price that I have paid for it.

– Unkwown