Trivia of Life

The holiday’s over, and I’m back on my desk again. It didn’t go quite as I planned, the holiday, as I missed sleep almost every night. Highlights on a sunny side: Rooney scored a hat-trick (what’s that? Rooney can’t score? Ah, you mean Roonaldo? Yes yes, poor fella); a movie about a stoned, bad-tempered hitman going berserk (Oy!); a book on people (talking about trivia of life!); a blind date with a late karaoke session; a reunion with a bunch of old friends; endless hours of WE, from dusk till dawn; and restless sleeps battered by mosquitoes and weird dreams.

One thing about a holiday, you think of nothing and everything at the same time. My little sister’s wedding's coming up, and I’m very happy for her. What’s with all the jokes and banters about me being left behind? I wasn’t aware that we were in a race. Everything’s beautiful on its own time.

On a grimmer tone, a friend of mine died the other day. No premonitions, no warnings, only goodbyes. It was no more than two weeks ago that I played pool with him. It was a small gathering of friends, a send-off to bid farewell and good luck as he was being assigned to another city. Little we knew the real meaning of the farewell. Actually, I didn’t feel like coming as I was worn out from work and was already on my way home. But some friends insisted that I should come and drop by to meet him.

So I came and met him. We played some pool, and I teasingly asked him about marriage, and he laughed. He said, “Whoever gets to score first will let the other know, ok?” I said ok, we shook hands, hugged, promised to stay in touch, and I took my leave.

Two weeks later, I got the news about his demise. I wanted to cry, couldn’t. I wanted to ask why, didn’t want to. Death is unforgiving and nonnegotiable. Life is frail and trivial. But it is the trivia of life that makes the ride worthwhile. So, I said a quiet prayer for him and wished him everything good that he overlooked in this life. I will miss him. He was a friend, a smoking buddy, and a good person. After all, only the good die young.

Time marches on.