Life as We Know it

Life, I believe, is a series of bizarre, puzzled events. I remember three years ago taking picture of me and three other friends back in Melbourne. We gathered to cook together in one fine lazy summer day in our bright and sunny kitchen. The day was beautiful and we thought of having some traditional chicken meal, full of herbs and spices. So there we were, ready to cook. While cooking, I took their pictures with some funny, bizarre poses, like the act of one of them holding a knife and ready to stab the other, scolding each other like a landlord to their slave [in a funny way of course], etc. I put the pictures on Facebook and everyone was laughing and thought the pictures were really funny.

Now, three years later.  I work in this city, the other was just got wed yesterday, very happy with life, the other is taking doctoral study in Melbourne again, and the other, unfortunately have just passed away three weeks ago. I remember when a friend of mine, who is a mutual friend of us, called me one Sunday afternoon, that A just had his last breath an hour before. It came as a shock to me. I called T and other friends to tell the bad news. He wast just at his early thirties, 31 perhaps. God, he's just too young. Too cheerful, too lively, to die. He was such a vibrant, bubbly, helpful person. He helped everyone with smile and sincere motivation.  Just to imagine that A died, quiet, sick, struggling to breath, and finally silent forever, is too hard to do. He had none of those qualities, because he's always full with life. Anyway, he died. All of us were crying til the next morning. We did not really speak each other, but all were in grief. We felt the pain of imagining that a life was taken from someone so cheerful, at a very young age. Tears were running down from our eyes, we could not control.  

Three weeks after that,  it's time to feast.  The wedding day of our friend. Our close friend, a friend of A too. Friends, family, everyone, gathered in festivities. Happy, smiley faces around. Food and beverages were all around. The joy of the two families celebrating their newly bonded children. Sharing stories, sharing dreams, sharing life, sharing future. Life is good. Everyone danced till the party's over with nice songs on the background. So freely, so warm, so full of life, the happy crowd was. Such a nice wedding party. Sorrow was swept away under the carpet. It's time for celebration!

And then, party's over. I came back to my life as I know it. Thinking of unfinished reports, papers, articles, tickets, Christmas, New Year and so on. Feels like things are getting their way to their normal places again in my brain, occupying my mind, right at where they were when I started putting make ups and left for the party. 

And life...it gets back to its normal mode once more for me. With the anxiety of the future, with the curiosity of what it might bring me.

And it's November, almost the end of the year. Time for reflection, time for looking back what we have done this year, to see what we'll be doing next year.

It's just life as we know it. With its sorrows. With its pain. With its happiness.

Life indeed, as I know it,  is a series of bizarre, puzzled events.