Rest in peace, Shu Zanne

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

-Psalm 23. 1

It was just the usual check-what's-happened-on-facebook-overnight routine that I do on most mornings. Then I saw that one of my friends had joined a group "Prayers In Loving Memory of Shu Zanne". I only know one person which such a name but thought "No, it cant be!".

True enough, a simple search on Google led me to other people's blogs where I found out that she was in a hit-and-run accident, that her boyfriend was with her walking along the road, that the bitch (yes it was a female driver) who did it was racing with a friend and that she got caught. I dont have any other details and I wont speculate.

Then I saw the obituary in today's Star. Confirmed.

I never really knew her. She was a good friend of some of my high school friends. I've met her at times at clubs with those friends over the years but we never really spoke. I have spoken to her parents though at church a couple of times.. How odd that we were from the same church but I'd never bumped into her there. Anyway, the obituary stated that her funeral is at 11am tmrw at SFX, PJ. May you rest in peace, Shu Zanne (Oct 1983- Jan 2008). To your parents, have faith, the Lord will protect her.

The shock of such a thing happening to one so young makes me rethink my life. Like they always say, life's too short. You never know what can happen and when it happens.

My first experience of someone close almost dying was my cousin and childhood bestfriend, Celine. She was 10 and I was 9 when she too was hit by a car and the driver sped off. Her brother Adrian was with her and he was only 13 then. I remember it was a Sunday morning, Feb 2, my dad's birthday. We had already planned a family gathering to celebrate his birthday but all of us ended up at the hospital to keep vigil. Celine was in a coma for 3 weeks and had amnesia when she first woke up. Thankfully, she is now fully-recovered and doing well.

Another scare came in 2005, one of my bestest friends Yee Leng and her boyfriend Dinson were involved in a bad car accident in Melbourne. I was still in England at that time but when I could, I went to Melbourne to visit her. She's also, thankfully, recovering. I've not seen her in a while but she's coming home for Chinese New Year so I'll catch up with her then.

Today's news brought back memories of these incidents in my life too. It reminds you to appreciate what you have, especially family and loved ones. Remember, life's too short.