In Memory of Amy

In the midst of my busyness yesterday, I took a break to read some Facebook posts. One of my friend’s Facebook posts shocked me. I read a few times before I could understand what she was writing. Again, another friend gone. I really hate such surprises. Sometimes when I do my usual news monitoring, I would see familiar faces on the obituary pages. I am very scared of such feelings. Whenever I see friends’ death, it hits me real hard since I don’t have many friends. I take every friendship seriously though I may not show it. The news of the death of my friend, Amy, somehow hit me quite hard beyond my expectation. I don’t know why I struggled very hard to finish my work as my mind seemed to paralyse me when I first got to know the news. When I saw the pencil holder with an angel on my work desk, my tears just rolled down while rushing through my work to meet deadline. This pencil holder was a gift from Amy before she left Singapore. The pencil holder brought back all the memories I had with her. She is one of the angels that I have met in my life.

I knew Amy at Tao Nan School. I am amazed by this woman. I admire her professionalism at workplace. No matter how some people made life difficult for her at workplace, I never saw her lose her temper. I ever told her she was one of very different woman I have met so far.   She was quiet and stoic but somehow, she had this silent strength in her. She would deliver her work with good quality. Never for once, I heard her complaining no matter how harsh some people would treat her. I agree with most people’s comments. She would always smile.

After I had left Tao Nan for years, Amy and I were only Facebook friends. Before she left in April last year, she sent me a message through Facebook messenger. I was surprised by her message. She asked me to join her and another friend for dinner as she was going to leave Singapore for good to Philippines for her family. What she messaged and did touched me. She told me she wished I could join them for dinner in that evening as my friend and I were among her very good friends in Singapore. Only then, I realized that I was seen as her good friend. I felt honoured to be one of her good friends in Singapore. I joined them for dinner.

Amy brought us to Jolibee restaurant in Lucky Plaza. She told me it was popular in her hometown. She wanted us to try the good Filipino food. I was really touched by her treat. She insisted on treating us to the well-known Filipino chicken outlet which I will never forget. I know she had been saving every single cent for her family back home. With the little money she had, she wanted to give us a treat and  joined the long queue to buy the food for us. That really touched me and showed me how much she treasured the friendship between us. She wanted to share the good things with us. She was generous to buy us dinner with that little money she could have saved up for herself and yet she even served us on her last day with us. That evening was very precious. She shared a lot about her faith and her personal life stories.  Amy was carrying a big bag with her around when she met us. In fact, the bag seemed bigger than her. That was also when I realized how skinny she was at that time and could feel how much she had to go through to get her family to have better quality of life by working had here. I felt she was a great mother and wife who worked hard silently. When we were about to part with one another, she took something out from the big bag. That was a present from her. It was the pencil holder with an angel sitting on my tray now. I was very touched. I knew I might not see her in Singapore again. I decided to take taxi with her as I wanted to spend more time with her before she got out of Singapore for good. Never would I ever know that that was really my last time seeing her.

In the taxi, Amy was sharing with me about what her dad had taught her. He kept telling her she had a plain look but she was beautiful. That gave her the confidence to face the harsh reality in life. Her dad had a great positive influence on her. She told me she had missed her children’s growing stages when she had to come to Singapore to work and save up for her family. She wanted to spend more time with them when she got back to Philippines. Amy was a contented person who lived in joy out of simplicity. She shared with me though Singapore is a developed country with more comfort and modern technology, she preferred a simple life back home with her family with limited access to Internet. Quite a strange thing coming out of the mouth of a teacher with Computer Science background. She restricted her children’s usage of Internet back home as it affected their quality time spent together. This showed how much she treasured the precious time she had with her family. After Amy had left Singapore, I sent her a Facebook message when I read about natural disaster in Philippines during Chinese New Year at the beginning of this year  to see if she was affected. I was relieved she was not affected. We chatted. Though her pay was much lower with no means to save up at all as a Math teacher in her hometown, she was contented and felt life was very meaningful. She relied on God to provide and continued to work hard. She went on to do her best to educate the next generation. 

To me, I agree with her dad, Amy was beautiful. I have never told her how much she had taught and touched me on that last day we met before she left Singapore.  That short trip in the taxi with her was very enriching and warm as she opened her life up to me for the first time. I will never forget how a normally stoic Amy turned into an enthusiastic child when sharing her life stories with me, especially her family. I will also never forget how she carried that big bag with her meeting us at Jolibee restaurant for the last time. She was so simple and yet deep. She was mature and yet childlike in her own ways. She thought that she was plain looking but something in her just attracted me to know her more. I admire her simplicity, sincerity and strength which I find very rare in the modern world where corporate settings are all about fighting and hypocrisy. With Amy, I did not feel such negative vibes from her. I wish I could have spoken to her more.

I am very sorry to know she had to lose her lower limbs before she passed on. It must be painful for her. I do not understand why she had to go through that before she returned to the Lord. I am not sure why she had to leave early. No matter what, I believe she is now in the good hands of the Lord.  I hope that her most beloved family will continue to stay strong and live on with Amy’s never-say-die spirit. I believe Amy would watch over her family from heaven with all the angels and saints and want to see her family to live on strong and continue to be blessings to the others just like how she was a blessing to all of us carrying on with her dad’s legacy  of simplicity and appreciation with her wherever she went. That was how she could bless others joyfully with the little that she had.  I believe her two young children will be well taken care of by God and carry on with meaningful life with the legacy of Amy’s love for them and share this love with the others by serving like Amy in the future.

Amy, thank you for being a gift from God to me. May your soul rest in peace. Though you may be gone physically, your spirit stays alive in every one of us. Eternal rest grant unto in the name of Jesus. I also pray that her family will be blessed with the necessary support, love and grace to go through the ordeal. May they be blessed with the strength, courage and grace to continue with leading their lives to the fullest like how Amy had led a colourful life serving wherever she went and set good example as a follower of Christ. Amy, once again, thank you for being a present in my life to teach me life lessons and how to be contented with what I have!

With sadness, 

Elena