The Vaseline friend. :)

If there is one truth that is hard to conceal, it is who we are and how far we have come. We all carry baggage of truth in us as we slowly live life adding more to that weight with every person we come across and every memory we build. We all carry stories, stories of us, stories of other people and mostly stories of who we wish one day to be. Today, I want to revisit a past memory and tell you a story from there. My wish for you is to take something from this, and never forget it. 

The setting is Klang general hospital, year 2012, the men's ward. A young boy of about 22 lay motionless on the hospital bed. His eyes have a distant look and his face is naturally painted white. He is the hero of this story. If you look at him, you see all the reasons why hospitals can be nauseating to some. His face show you the pain of being there and his mannerisms easily spot that of one who has given up in life. Then when you slowly look down, away from the pained expression he has to offer, you see the reason why he is as such. He lost a leg in a terrible accident. Where there should be a limb, there are just bandages. At this point, you would look away, your heart will leap in shock and you will start thanking God for your own limbs. Honestly, how many of us really do that? You know, appreciate the limbs and parts of body that we have? None? Read on. 

I met this boy in a very strange way. How I wouldn't want to tell, it is quite personal. But he was my friend for a solid one week and I learnt so much from him that if I had the chance to meet him back, I will do it in a heart beat. I don't know his name, I barely remember how he looks but I can still feel the joy in me that I had back then talking to him. Thanks to my quite good skills in making friends, we clicked. We were two different human beings, that's for sure. I struggled to speak in the language he did and he struggled to learn English words from me. But, there was something real in him. He understood life. 

Today, I look at a bottle of Vaseline and I remember him. It's a sudden thought. A sudden flashback. The feelings are real though. Its a bottle of Vaseline that bonded us and today I have no idea where he is or how he is. I don't know whether his girlfriend did leave him after the accident just as how he feared or she stayed on, just as how I told him she would. I don't know whether he managed to find another job and is slowly climbing the ladder of success or he let his disability stand in the way, though I swear I know he wouldn't. There is so much that I don't know. And today, this bottle of Vaseline reminds me of that. 

So, what's the point of me telling you this story? Well, here's the thing. Everyone you meet is never going to be there forever. People will move in and then out of your lives. Remember that. And also remember that regret can be a tough enemy. So, the ones that mean the world to you? Hold on to them. Never ever let time push away people from you. I am saying this today because I regret not going back to visit him, not having any contact with him or simply not remembering him. Now all I am left with are memories of a good friend that I made a long time ago in one of the most strangest place of all. And now, I regret this.