The brevity of life has never been clear to most of us . We don't appreciate all that we have . I have a story , about ( as the Coldplay song says ) Death and all his Friends . Death has never been familiar to me . A distant concept because I've never lost anyone close to me . I was always a bystander , saddened by the passing but not really comprehending the enormity of it all . The past two months has made the concept slightly clearer . And the phrase Death and all His Friends , becomes all too real , all too quickly .
My grandfather , Appa (what everyone calls him) is from a large family . Growing up , I had only met a few of his siblings . One of them was his youngest brother . He was a man no-one knew much about but he used to visit from time to time . Dressed in clothes that resembled army fatigues he would appear every few months . To cut a long story short , Appa's brother had been diagnosed with cancer .
One of Death's friends had found it's way into the story . Sickness is often a very good friend of death . And over the months , it ate away at his body and also sapped his soul of all will to continue on . We will never know the pain he was in , fighting to stay alive while slowly , Death and his entourage strode into this life .
Appa's brother was a lonely man . He lived alone , renting out a room . Keeping to himself . In light of what happened later , it makes sense that his passing was all the more painful . When you are alone , the troubles stream through your mind . Replaying like a stuck tape , torturing you . And all the while , your body attacking you as it did to him as he sat alone in his room .
Maybe the whole troupe had been living with him when he woke up that morning , packed some things in a bag and told this landlady he was going fishing . Maybe Death and all his friends walked with him along the pier . Did they look on , as he jumped into the murky depths ?
The body was found , but was only identified properly two months later . We knew it was him . He went in his army fatigues , fighting to have the last say . The waiting was what got everyone .
The funeral was not big , a quiet ceremony as a few people ( family and his friends ) said goodbye . He was the youngest in his family . According to those who knew him , full of humour and good-natured . The only one of Death's friends who attended was Guilt . He pointed fingers at those closest to him . Leaving many questioning their actions in the past few years .
There will never be an answer to our questions . They left that day on the pier . But they do make us realise that life is for the living . And that we need to analyze our relationships with those around us . We need to be grateful that the people around us don't let Death and all his friends reside with us . It ensures that when he does visit , it is only for a short while , and not for months on end .
