TIME WILL LET YOU LIVE AGAIN

Still remember Mr. T from my previous post? He is the old man who has taught me a lot on life’s philosophy before he passed away a few years back. I must admit that during certain times when I was studying in a college, there was a lapse in our relationships. It was the time when my future was in the hands of getting myself well armed in education to face the world out there.

College… Girls… Projects… Assignments… Presentations… Examinations… Paper Qualifications… Career and Life itself got into the way. In pursuit of my dreams, on top of being hectic in my life, I practically have no time at all to even to spend some quality time with my own family. I was so naïve in getting myself successful in the society that nothing could stop me. But then, I did pop in Mr. T’s house for a short visit on and off when I have some time in my hands. Each time he would just smile at me and says, “Criz… chase your dreams while you are young. I will understand. Thanks for your time.”

With all the heavy schedules and workloads, I was getting further and further apart from seeing him that frequent. It lasted about a year. One fine morning, I received a call from my Mum. Sounding rather sad and with a heavy voice, my Mum broke the news to me, “Son…Mr. T passed away last night in his sleep. The funeral is tomorrow.” My mind went blank for a split second. Memories of my childhood days with Mr. T flashed nonstop in my head. Tears were running down my cheek as I slumped onto my office chair.

Suddenly, I heard a loud shout over the phone. I had completely forgotten that I was on the line with my Mum. “Oh sorry, Mum. I was just thinking about him just now.” Feeling the guilt of not seeing him for the whole year, I heard my Mum said, “He remembered you dear. Each time when I passed by his house, he would ask me about you. He reminisced about all the good times you spent over at his place.” This made my eyes went spraying with tears. I was touched.

I was wrong in ignoring him for so long to chase my dreams. Mr. T was the other “father” of mine whom has influenced my life. He was the one who taught me how to live life happily. “I’ll be back tonight Mum. Just wait for me.” The whole day, my mood was like a gloomy weather. My mind was not thinking rationally. Those colleagues of mine who pass by dare not even utter a word. I needed a shoulder to cry on and no one was there to comfort me. I was in dilemma for the guilt.

I reached home quite late in the evening. After a quick dinner, we went over to Mr. T’s house. As we reached there, Mr. T’s widow rushed up to me and gave me a tight hug. She said, “Mr. T talked about you all the time.” Tears again almost burst out but I kept my emotion down as it is rude to create a commotion during a person’s bereavement. I went over to Mr. T’s coffin and saw his face for the last time. There he was sleeping with a smile on his face. Small drops of tears dripped out from the corner of my eyes.

Suddenly, my eyes were staring at the empty table which Mr. T and I had spent most of our memorable times together. “The book is gone” I uttered. My Mum asked, “What book?” I replied, “There was this book tied with a red ribbon that Mr. T treasured a lot. I did ask him many times what it was.” He just told me that it was the book that he valued a lot. In my mind, “Now I would never know what is so valuable to him. Someone in the family would have taken it.”

The funeral the next day was a small and uneventful one. Mr. T had no son. He has only a daughter whom he has adopted when she was 7 years old. Most of his friends or relatives had passed away. After the funeral, I went back to Mr. T’s house to say goodbye to his widow before I head back to my office. Mrs. T passed me a parcel with my name written on it. On top of that, there was a letter attached to it. With trembling hands, I opened the letter and read the content. “Upon my death, please pass this parcel to Criz. Signed Mr. T” I burst into tears immediately. Instead of me comforting Mrs. T, she was the one comforting me then. She said, “Mr. T treated you like his own son and he wanted you to have this after he has gone.”

I wanted to open the parcel then but decided to do it back in the privacy of my own room. With my heart beat pounding heavily, I opened the parcel. Inside was the book with the red ribbon still tied beautifully on it. I untied the ribbon and there on the first page was a note. It read, “Criz. Thanks for your time. Mr. T”. I cried furiously again. I was pondering what was so valuable to him and he valued my time. I flipped through the book and saw that it was a diary. A diary about how we met and what are the things we did when we were together. A statement on the last page caught my attention. “….I knew he was busy with his own life now and I forgave him for his actions. Times are running out for me and I hope that the time should be given to someone else he treasures most in his life.”

Immediately, I took out my hand phone and called back my office. “Ms. X. I’m taking the whole week off.” Ms. X asked, “Why?” I answered, “I‘m planning to spend some quality time with my family. Thanks for your time too, Ms. X.”

So, make some time for yourself today to spend more time with your loved ones. Treasure well the time you have with them as you would not know what will happen in the future.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

MAY MR. T'S SOUL REST IN PEACE

Note:
It took me quite some time to come out with this post after writing the other post on Mr. T. I was too emotional to continue after writing a short paragraph each time. Finally, I completed writing this post after days of wetting my keyboard. And who says a guy cannot be emotional? I am not ashamed to admit that.