Passing On

I received a surprise call from someone I knew many decades ago, from the first church that I grew up in.  Found out that the wife of someone I used to care very much about has just passed away.  Apparently she has a blood clot in her brain and collapsed while she was on an overseas trip.  She was declared brain dead upon return to Singapore last week.

It was a very very rude shock.  The wife was an ex-school mate and ex-church mate.  I am not close to her at all but because she was one year my senior and was from the same batch as my ex-Bible Study leader who has also passed away in 1999 when she was only 37, the news brought back a very strong sense of loss.  Not a pleasant feeling when people your age have or are passing on so suddenly.

This is the second piece of news that I have gotten since Orlando.  Last week, SS texted to say that her mom had a fall as well as a brain bleed.  This came almost immediately after she has tendered her resignation. 

The suddenness of these two events resulted in very mixed feelings and a sense of uncertainty. Suddenly, it seems that not only has my career life reached a stage where a mid-life assessment is necessary; it seemed that people around me (my friends and contacts) are also going through similar situations, with some experiencing some form of life crisis of sort.

Somehow it became all the more important to have a clear sense of purpose in life and a strong sense of determination and discipline not to procrastinate to do the things that we want to while we have the time and energy to do so.   In this sense, I am glad to have gone to Orlando with my sister so that both of us will have no regrets in terms of fulfilling our respective dreams and goals. I am also glad to have taken this 6-month sabbatical to "refocus and (perhaps to) regain that bounce in my step", as said by Joanne Lee in Straits Times, 11 April 2011, Money page "Take a break to help your career".