Many of us are scared even just to the thought of dying, i remember my grandma who will slap you if you joke about death and even ground you when you mention a dead man's name without saying "sumalangit nawa" (may he go to heaven). I myself experienced how it feels to die the next day, for 73o days!
If you 're lucky to reach 18, you'll have a good chance to have an open heart surgery...
I was almost 17 when my friend and classmate William died of heart attack while taking a bath after a noontime basketball game just after we finished 2 bottles of gin at Boy Diaz's compound. Everyone cannot believe that news about Williams death, as he was a strong teenager with lots of dreams for the future. But just like a withering leaf his death fades away but not for me, as my mom always reminds me of the cause of William's death--alcohol.
August 5, 1987 my dad's birthday and a few days after my own birthday came the most unbelievable words from my mother as she was scolding me and says " refrain from vices as your doctor told us once that if you're lucky to reach 18 then you will have a good chance to survive an open heart surgery..." and all the rest became inaudible to me and all that's left is the thought that I only have a year to live. A life changing moment and everything that i hope for my future crumbled in front of me.
Everyday for 350 days was a dying day for me, always thinking before i sleep that it would be my last day but then again wake up another day for another night of thinking and so on and so forth until the day before my 18th birthday and i was a little bit hopeful and happy that I reached 18-- I wanted to cry, to celebrate or just jump for joy but then i realized i am just 18 and will remain 18 till next year, and that short moment of joy became sorrow, the thought of another 365 days of daily death vanished all the short moment of joy.
Then I resorted to soul searching and almost joined all the Christian groups that I can meet until I found one that answered all my questions and built my foundation of faith. Now I am 60 years old, had all the fun, had all the achievements and most of all without any open-heart surgery. I left the church but not the faith, so at 60 I can feel i am getting close to the ground and all i can ask from God is forget if I am sick, just heal my soul and I will be happy to be with Him.
Nice one