My old Ku Poh got a stroke last week. It just happened all of a sudden. She's just like normal that night, and the next moment she was collapsed on the floor. She'd undergone a brain surgery to remove the blood clot. She's okay now, just discharged from hosp. and is recovering. Right side not that flexible anymore. Although I'm in UK and heard this news from my parents, I can imagine last week was a tiring and emotionally exhausting week for my aunts.

Ku poh is always a cheerful person. Although she's not that mobile in moving ( her feet were not that flexible, due to ageing), she doesnt feel frustrated or depressed facing the signs of aging. Instead, she is a very strong lady. Once, all of us accompany her to walk down the stairs which is quite narrow. For a young man, he can do it in 1 minute. For her, she took around 10 minutes to do that, very slowly and struggling, step after step and the adults can only watch her in case she is falling. And she never said a word about it. We always complain climbing stairs. But never know being able to climb the stairs is a thing to appreciate for. This is what I should learn from her.

Life is impermenant. One day, we will get old. Besides this, as we grew older, we will also soon see our dearest family part from us, one by one. This is the rule of life. There isn't a flower who blooms and never dies. We must have such a mental preparation long before the thing occurs. Otherwise, we will very easily break down when come to matters of life and death. The Buddha said, if we really see through the impermenance in everything, we will try our best to make ourselves and everyone around us happy. Because, we know they are not going to be there forever, so there is no need at all to be in anger or frustration and then have regrets when they are gone.

On this Guy Fawkes' day, let us remind that we are still alive and it is the most wonderful moment we can have on earth. Throw away our sadness, and be refreshing every day. And be grateful that we are alive, as someone else may not have lived today. Living is already a thing worth happy for. :)