When I'm Gone

by Mrs. Lyman Hancock

When I come to the end of my journey
And I travel my last weary mile
Just forget if you can, that I ever frowned
And remember only the smile

Forget unkind words I have spoken
Remember some good I have done
Forget that I ever had heartache
And remember I've had loads of fun

Forget that I've stumbled and blundered
And sometimes fell by the way
Remember I have fought some hard battles
And won, ere the close of the day

Then forget to grieve for my going
I would not have you sad for a day
But in summer just gather some flowers
And remember the place where I lay

And come in the shade of evening
When the sun paints the sky in the west
Stand for a few moments beside me
And remember only my best

As I was searching out for poems to be read (which, trust me, started when I typed "Korean poems about friendship" on Google), I suddenly thought about death and dying. I did not what drove me to look out for poems on this matter, but as my mind lingered and I did not turn up for Biochemistry test (which I regretted doing so in the end but never mind that), I ended up searching for poems by Emily Dickinson, Mary Elizabeth Frye, Charlotte Brontë - just to name a few. I even ended up hearing "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan on Youtube.

And then the memories of the past struck me.

It took me way back to 2002, when one of my classmates from 4 Rose in the elementary school died because of drowning. I knew about this only a day after she was found dead, surprisingly from my mother who told me this bad news the first thing after she woke me up. I did not remember how my reaction was, maybe I was taken aback or I did not show any reaction simply because I was still in a dreamy state at that moment of time. But the rest of the day just went on without any problems.

When I went to the school the next day, before the everyday morning assembly, me and my classmates talked about albeit we were too young to understand about death. Some of her closer friends cried, and we helplessly patted their backs in hopes that they would stop crying.

During the morning assembly, when the teacher in charge announced to the whole school that our classmate died and dedicated a moment of silence and prayed for her, we all did. Again, I did not remember what did I say in my prayers for her as I just closed my eyes, held out my hand and prayed.

Somehow, after finished praying, I started sobbing softly. The weird thing was, neither I cried the day before nor I cried together with my friends when we talked about her in the class before the morning assembly. But yes, I was the one who got to be patted by my classmates who stood near me during the assembly that time. I continued crying in the class until our class teacher came in as we had Science as the first class that day. They kept on saying, "Oh Shazzny, please stop crying. It's okay, please don't cry anymore."

The rest of the memories were histories.

But if there was one thing I remembered: it was a very solemn day indeed.

And the most important thing was, it brought all of us together as one. We comforted each other, and we cried for the loss of our friend. Although being too young and so innocent; although it was a very sad day, we managed to go through the day.

She was only ten when she died.

So why am I posting about death this time? Am I having suicidal thought (Na'uzubillah!)? Am I dying soon, so I am posting some kind of last love letter for everyone to read?

My answer is - simply, as a remembrance for myself and everybody who is still living.

Remember this guys:

Every death is a lesson for the living from Allah.

As long as we are still breathing, we have to appreciate every single moment of it and use the time wisely to gather up as many good deeds as possible because we will never know when are we going to go. Wallahu'alam, only Allah Himself knows.

So, waste no time! Continue doing the good deeds, slowly stop doing the bad deeds, and repent to Allah. Don't procrastinate (this applies to me too, as I am such a bad procrastinator =.=").

Because if there is a concept of "it's still very early",

There is a concept of "sorry, it's too late".

Alhamdulillah for the reminder oh Allah.

Al-Fatihah to my late friend, may you rest in peace.

May Allah grant you Jannah, the highest level of Paradise :)

♥ nina.sha ♥

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