Around the Corner

this poem applies to everyone. do things push you around and take all your time that you 'do not have time' to even say 'hi' to your loved ones? read this poem and think twice..before it's too late.

i remember my childhood best friend.we were so close when we were young, like sisters.but when they moved to another municipality and she transferred to another school after Grade V, it took 5 years before we had communication.Again, we shared our goals in life. We dreamed of forming a foundation to help the less fortunate ones.I will be the nurse and she will be the social worker.we also planned of initiating an elementary batch reunion someday.

i didn't realize we will fulfill the plan in just a year. two days after new year of 2006, she and her younger brother (who happens to be my younger brother's best friend too) met a fatal vehicular accident in Bauang, La Union. Her brother died in an instant but she fought hard for her breath until she 'came home' to Irisan, our home. there, she released her last breath...gathering our elementary batch friends.

most of our friends expressed their regrets of not keeping in touch with her while she was well and alive.i also grieved and thought of those 5 lost years i should have spent with her.we were so near each other,just one municipality away,just some kilometers away.but in a way, i am still thankful that before she passed away, we were able to gain that closeness we had when we were younger. however, i had never mentioned to her how much i valued her... worst, i didn't share the truth, the joy i found..

the last words she told me? (through SMS when i invited her for overnight group bonding at home with batch friends, last days of December 2005) "Sige, nu next time to.." (OK, next time..).

the question is, will there be next time? 

the lesson is, we must use our precious time investing love to our loved ones and not on material things. God commanded us to love our neighbors; if we love Him, we should love His most beloved creation - people. 

another lesson, stop manana habit! every millisecond is precious!

Around the Corner

Charles Hanson Towne

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this city that has no end;

Yet days go by, and weeks rush on,

And before I know it, a year has gone,

And I never see my old friend’s face

For life is a swift and terrible race.

He knows I like him just as well

As in the days when I rang his bell,

And he rang mine.

We were younger then

And now we are busy, tired men;

Tired with playing a foolish game,

Tired with trying to make a name.

“Tomorrow,” they say. “I will call Jim.”

Just to show that I am thinking of him.

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And the distance between us grows and grows

Around the corner, but miles away…

“Here’s a telegram; Jim died today.”

And that’s what we get and deserve in the end,

Around the corner, a lost friend.