Life Is Short...

Last Thursday, September 5th I had just returned home from a late night movie and logged on to twitter to check what was happening in the world, while I was offline. I started tweeting my reactions about the scary movie I had just watched, "The Conjuring", when I received a tweet informing me that someone I knew passed away. 

@NoonArabia Sorry, I don't know this person but just read he died of a heart attack & his last tweet was an RT of yours: @imothanaYemen
— Stop Agitprop (@StopAgitprop) September 5, 2013

That was the shocking way I sadly learned about the death of our 24 year old friend and fellow activist. Ibrahim Mothana, was a healthy promising young man who died peacefully in his sleep. I read posts and messages people wrote to mourn him as I also wrote about his tragic loss throughout the week. I was overwhelmed with pain for his loss as were many others, friends, family and acquaintances from around the world.

Last week also a well known Egyptian celebrity, Dr. Bassem Youssef lost his mother and yesterday he published a touching tribute to mourn her. (Original Arabic article here). His words moved me to tears and made me reflect once again on this daunting subject.

Indeed it is always painful when one is confronted with death. I have lost friends and relatives and have witnessed many friends loose their loved ones too. I am very familiar with death. I sadly lost my father and more painfully and tragically I lost my child. Yet last week I was shaken by death once again.

Ibrahim's death was similar in a way to my own loss. It was sad, sudden and very tragic. How does one expect a 24 year old to suddenly pass away when he has his whole life ahead of him...or even a 1 year old? Yet death is the common visitor who knows no age, comes unannounced and often unexpected. As a Muslim, I respect and accept that and believe that is God's will, yet it is painful to deal with nevertheless.

Death is the ultimate truth that we often forget. I didn't write this post to reflect on death, nor share my wisdom, I did that previously. I am writing this post to remind ourselves that we should not take life or people for granted. We should let those people who matter to us know that we love and appreciate them at every chance we have. We should let them know today, while they are amongst us, how much we care about them and are glad to have them in our lives.

This morning I read this quote and it resonated and I decided to share it with everyone:

Life is too short and death doesn't give second chances. Make sure you express your emotions to those you care about so that you have no remorse.

Therefore if you are a friend or relative reading this, I want you to know that I care about you and I am truly blessed and grateful to have you in my life. 

Peace