Death at our Doorsteps, the loss of a loved one

Yesterday, with great regret, we received news that a member of our family passed away upon the conclusion of open-heart surgery.

This will be rather long, but there is a point to it, so please, if you read this, bear with me.

There are a dozen ideas of what I want to say, the deceased, the doctors, what happened later, my near-accident, near-death experience. Let the ideas come as they will.

First and foremost, the deceased. Genealogically, he is part of my extended family. My mothers sisters husbands sisters husband. To say that I knew him personally, I won't lie, I did not. I knew his wife, his children, and met him sporadically over the past couple of years.

His integrity and character though, I was familiar with. He was a kind soul, helping the needy, a steadfast pillar in his community.

We had been praying all week for his surgery to be a success. There were complications, he endured, and then yesterday evening, we got the news that he passed way.

Part II, the doctors. To say that I loathe the idea of medicine would be biased beyond measure. They have the hardest job in the cosmos, the very idea of life is in their hands. Many a show have attempted to portray the goings on behind the scenes, how doctors deal with patients death. I would never wish to be a doctor, for that is an enormous responsibility to bear on my frail shoulders.

It would seem as though one could live out their existence, without consulting a doctor, until a need arises. Preventive testing almost always leads to uncertain odds.

This is the second relative who underwent major surgery, and upon payment to the doctor in charge, and upon death of the patient, the doctor proclaims, "you didnt tell me his blood-sugar was so high", or in the case of my grandmother, who passed away on 08-08-08, which we discovered was her birthday, the doctor idiotically states, "you didnt tell me how old she was".

In both cases, the doctors gave good odds, statistics, numbers. Human lives reduced to averages and numbers.

I sincerely hope, that the exorbiant amounts these doctors charged, and many doctors like them, serve as payment on their own calamities and catastrophes. It is tragic, that we charge money to save a persons life, alas, that is the way of the world, nothing can be done for free.

Which brings me to topic number III, my near-crash experience.

Despite the news, and its effect on me, lack of sleep being the main one, I had promised a friend to pick them up from the airport. Their flight was due to arrive late, 2:30am.

We received the news at 7, prior to it, I was hoping to rest for a while in order to remain awake until my friend arrived, instead of my budgeted 5 hours of sleep, I only got in 1.

On the drive to the airport, one that I had done a dozen times over, I was stuck behind a small Dihatsu. With the qoran playing in my ears, I do not know what provoked me to overtake the fellow, we were in the middle lane on the road heading toward the airport, with Khaitan on my right.

I stepped down on the accelerator to overtake him, oblivious to the fact that there was a car speeding up on my left, I swerved back into my own lane to avoid a collision, however, sudden turn of left and right made the car spin wildly out of control.

I will not describe the thought process, nor will I desribe the terror that gripped me, at how fragile life is.

All I know, is some sort of primal driving instinct took over, that prevented the car from capsizing as a result of its excessive and forceful swirling. Luckily, Luckily, thank god almighty, there were no people around me, or other cars in my vicinity, and the last thing I reached to was that Khaitan was now on my left, I was looking in the opposite direction of the road.

First thing that happend was I panicked when the car would not start. After a few seconds of rational thought, I remembered basic driving 101 that a car cannot be started on Drive. As a result of the fiasco, the car switched off. So the first thing to do after such situation is to put the car in park or neutral, turn the key, and go.

The smell of burnt rubber stung my nostrils all the way to the airport.

The Toyota Corolla 2010 has a serious, serious defect in this regard, I would not advise this car to anyone, as this problem has happened twice before, at high speeds, the car has zero stability, despite being a sedan.

The Qoran, my continuous prayers, served as a ward that protected me from further injury.

Please note this is not the first time I sped, nor the first time I tried overtake someone, nor the first time I drive.

Next comes the thoughts of my own mortality, or rather, that of my parents.

The first thing I think of in such situations is what I can do to protect my parents.

Their discussion was grim, they believe that exploratory procedures will always lead to a grim situation. So they decided on a do not operate policy.

Suffice to say, science has come forward in leaps and bounds since their time. I find myself drinking green tea, eating oatmeal, avoiding bread, rice, pasta (in excessive quantities), completely removing sugar from my diet (in terms of hot drinks), as well as salt, and completely reducing my intake of carbonated beverages.

I decided to have a sit down with my parents and force them, or convince them, I am not sure which, to switch to a similar lifestyle. The greatest thorn in my side now is how to convince my father to give up the hookah.

Mortality is a funny concept, we never think about our life and the direction it is heading unless we are faced with similar adversities.

I will not go with the cliche ending note of live life to its fullest, all I will say is be kind to those around you, show love and compassion, for you never know when its your turn to go.

We are born of this earth, and to this earth we shall return

So how can earning a living, be mankinds top concern?