Life And Death

My immediate boss’ mother lived a full life. A diabetic who was in her 80s, she was constantly battling complications left and right. Last April she was hospitalized. Given her condition, the family knew that she would never leave that hospital room alive; it was just a matter of time. But that time stretched to three months.

This morning my boss texted that her mother passed away peacefully at around 9am. Her message was placid: “We have been blessed a million times over with her and we celebrate her life well-lived.”

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We both went to the same gym. We were working for ad agencies when I first met him. And he and I were bloggers. He was always buffed up, although he did slim down dramatically after coming back from a long illness; I still am battling the bulge. He stayed in advertising; I left for a different industry. He blogged anonymously under a pseudonym; in my blog, I only withhold my real family name.

We shared battle stories of encounters in gym saunas and in bathhouses. He was the raunchier one, kinkier and more adventurous. If I had half of his sexcapades, my “Bathhouse Book” would have been encyclopedia-thick.

Last year I didn’t see him for a stretch of time at the gym. On his FB status, I saw that he was recuperating from some illness and was dying to get back to his exercise routine. When he got back he was slimmer, but he was determined to pump his body back to his previous bulky self.

Then I got lazy and didn’t see the gym for several months. When I came back, I didn’t see him anymore.

Today I found out he was dead. I found out from Facebook; a common friend posted a message of condolence on his wall. I checked his wall; messages of “farewell” and “rest in peace” were slowly coming in.

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Death gives value to Life. Death puts Life in its proper perspective.

Death and Life are but two sides of the same coin.