Fragility of Life (by Duc Luu, Aug. 13, 1999.)
(In memory of Virginia, our neighbor next door in Oakliff, Dallas, TX)
Virginia was an old lovely lady who always said hi and chatted
with us each time we met in the hallway.
Never got married, had no children, she lived happily by herself,
next door to where we lived, in an apartment complex in Oakliff, Dallas. The only guest,
beside ourselves, who off and on knocked on her door, was John, her companionship.
Virginia was ninety-one years old. John, her partner, may be a couple of years older.
Together they formed a perfectly nice old couple each time they
went out together; whether to a local super market or to church on each Sunday
morning. Every once in a while, Virginia also came over our place asking
for help; sometime she needed someone to hang on the wall a few things;
and other times, she needed help cleaning a few heavy things,
the tasks that seemed to be impossible for a lady such as Virginia.
I and John, a partner of mine, usually went out to the Dallas Farmer market each
weekend to get a few fresh fruits and among other things. Virginia sometimes asked us to bring back a couple of things;
sometimes a slide of watermellon, other times a few cantaloupes, her all-time favorite fruit.
Life went on as normal as usual. Nothing seemed to bother this old
lovely lady that we were aware of....
We had not seen Virginia for more than a month since we both recently
moved up to Irving, just fifteen miles Northwest of where we once used to live.
Last week of July and the first few weeks of August are usually the
hottest weeks of summer in Texas. This year, tripple-digit odometer keeps counting. 104F or 105F degree,
not counting the heat index, seems to be a norm these days. Along with the weather forecast, we kept
being informed by the news with all the elderly deaths around town due to the exhausted heat.
We thought about Virginia from time to time. Week in and week out,
we kept telling ourselves to stop by her place to check her out. And week in and week out, things
always came up and we kept delaying our trip, although there were just 15 miles away, to see her.
Beside, she was still doing well, being strong, and able to drive,
laugh, and cheer with us the last time we saw her on the hallway. Who could have thought any unexpected
thing would happen to this lovely lady...
Last Sunday, on the 08th of August, we finally got time to stop by
her place, with a fresh cantaloupe in our hand, just to surprise
Virginia as usual. Instead, in our surprised, we found out that Virginia had just passed away a few
days, just a few days, earlier. She died in her sleep and did not wake up the next
morning, or so they said.
From her boyfriend John, Virginia had owed her insurance company about
$US 1,800.00 or so for a couple of times that she was hospitalized in
the past. Though Virginia had never discussed her financial situation with us; but through John, she did not
have that much money to take care of her medical bills. She did in fact, got another letter from the insurance company
again, couple of days before her death, saying that they might cut off her Medicare, John said.
We only hoped that her sorrow and worry for such things would not be the cause that claimed her life;
instead, dying on her bed during her sleep, could well be one of the best things that ever happened for such a lovely
lady like Virginia.
Virginia died on Wednesday, the 04th of August; just a few days before we finally came over to visit.
Feeling guilty and being regret bothered us all the way driving home that day. Had we stopped by a weekend earlier, we
could have seen and talked to Virginia the last time.
Sit back and think of the past, I've gotten one more thought written in my journey of life. It took
Virginia's life at the moment that I never thought it would. Virginia could have been my mom, or anyone of my loved ones
in that regard, that I sometimes barely make time to visit, or just a phone call away.
I've heard this old saying before, and I am hearing it now again, "Do not put off tomorrow something that
could be done today."
Really, life is too short, and it is so fragile that it would only be too late but never too early to show
someone how much you really care.
Duc Luu
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