Two sad news in one month caught us all by surprise. The first one was the death of my dad’s close friend, Tito N. They were classmates in highschool and have lost contact when we were living in another city but they were able to catch up along with their other classmates. He and Dad bonded lately when we lived back in our hometown. They would go to birthday parties together, alumni meetings, and other family events. He’d visit dad often at home and they would chit-chat or enjoy listening to dad’s music.

His death was unexpected coz according to my dad, the last time they had a get-together with friends, and their topic was about health, life insurance rates and medicines among other things, Tito N. never mentioned that he was having any health problems. Dad is very saddened over his death; he won’t have any sidekick on their batch’s outings anymore.

The second news is the death of my brother-in-law’s younger brother, Jj. Jj is still very young at 38 to die. He was healthy, active and jolly guy according to family and friends so his death came as a big shock to everyone. He was supposed to fly back to Thailand that morning, back to his wife who’s going to have her birthday the next day and their 4 year old son, but he was found dead on his bed.

They might have gone ahead, but their memories will live in the hearts of the people who loved them. The biggest consolation is that they didn’t die suffering… both their deaths were peaceful ones.