Today, I mourn the passing of an Old Friend.. and no she was not OLD in years, but a friend from my childhood days.
Gwendolene Maria Emmanuel, is a friend of mine back from Kangar, Perlis from where I hail from. I was back in Kangar in early January, and heard from her mum that Gwen was ill, having stomach pains and all since Christmas. She's been in & out of work and seeing doctors etc. Suspected it was just stomach ulcers.
So she was admitted into the hospital for observations and scans.. They soon discovered she had 4th stage cancer of the pancreas and secondaries in the liver.
At that stage, it was almost impossible to consider Chemotheraphy,
Her suffering was short yet painful. The last I saw her was a month ago at her home, at that she even struggled to stay awake.
Even though, we never caught up very much in the past 10 years, Gwen has always been dear to me. Being Chinese by birth adopted into an Indian-Eurasian family, but had an Indian stomach.. she loved her curries and chillis.
She was 3 years younger than me, but became a compatriot in Christ with me, leading the youths in our church.
She comforted me when I was rejected by a girl that I liked. She listened and joked with me at the steps of the church. I will always be thankful to her for that.
I remember the many times we would cycle to church youth gatherings together on our Basikal Tua (Old Bicyles) and back home together as her mom wanted someone to accompany her. She'd play the piano in church and all of us would sing and rejoice in God. We'd have long chit chats in church and even her house. I can never remember Gwen ever shedding a tear over a guy, or anything. She always had a smile. A very pleasant girl from a very pleasant town, Kangar. She embodied peace and joy to me in all my growing years.
I will miss Gwen. We will meet in Heaven my dear friend and sister..
*more rememberances to come later*
Labels: Serious Stuff
