Live & Let Die

With regards to death, I've always known in my head that it's about how u live, but sometimes that in itself is just little more than an intellectual consciousness and doesn't necessarily translate into a real appreciation.

Until last night that is, when as soon as I got home from the wake of a friend I knew from church, I received news that an aunt of mine had suddenly collapsed and passed away just a while ago. Apparently, she had died of colon cancer which went undetected by the doctors and even misdiagnosed as appendicitis.
But this was also the same aunt who seemed to live by the belief that with money, u can buy urself out of anything. She equates money with all else...power, dignity and respect...and has no qualms about putting aside goodwill, camaraderie and kinship just to get a share of what she perceived to be her just deserts. As such, in her lifetime, many a trust have been broken and ties soured. And it doesn't fazed her one bit that a good number of the people who continue to associate themselves with her do so only because they want to sponge on her wealth. In fact, she sees them as intelligent (knowing the ways of the world) and shd thus be rewarded.
I'll always remember the time when my bro and I rode with her and she proceeded to give us a long lecture on how we shd master the craft of sucking up to ppl who can make our lives this much more comfortable and hasten our climb up the corporate ladder. We were both only less than 10 years of age then.

That said, to be honest, I can't help but wonder if her sudden departure isn't God's way of telling the people who have been marching to her beat and subscribing to her views to wake up their idea. What made this notion even more compelling was that in the past year, my uncle (her husband) has fallen out with my grandmother over a clash he had with his elder sister, in which the old lady took the side of latter. That angered him so much he has since refused to speak to her, going as far as to not acknowledging her presence when they do meet during common family events. Though my grandmother carried on as usual, I know deep inside she felt very sad about the whole matter. Time and again, the other siblings tried to persuade him to reconcile with his mother before it was too late but he simply cldn't put his pride aside.

The last time my Mom chatted with the wife of his, which was already about a year after the incident had taken place, instead of expressing remorse or at the very least, regret at how things hv turned out, she actually had the cheek to point out that my grandma was foolish not to stand on the side of money. My mom walked away disgusted.

That in a nutshell, spells out what she's all abt.

Then there's Steven. Uncle Steven.
I'll always remember him as the first person my sister & I were acquainted with the first time we attended RCIA together. During the break, he approached us and introduced himself, seeing how we were by ourselves and feeling a little unsure. Looking at him then, u'll never suspect this very man has been battling cancer on and off for 7 yrs already. He appeared so spirited, so warm and so cheerful...strumming on that guitar of his and singing along to the hymns.

Admittedly I don't really know all that much abt him, but from what I've seen and heard, I gathered he was very well-liked by the ppl in his life. U can just feel the outpouring of love at his wake...the many testimonies to his charitable spirit and character. Here's a man who's ever willing to give, who even when in pain, doesn't complain abt his suffering but instead continue to render his service to others with the same amount of passion as before.

And so last night, I was filled with the sense that the only thing in life that death can't wipe out is the relationships u cultivate in ur lifetime.
Sappy but true - in the end, only love and kindness matters. Nothing else. Not how much wealth, power or fame u have to ur name. Not how much influence u wielded over others. Not even your achievements.

No, only love & kindness.