Hello blogspot. (: i just wanted to update this today. On saturday, was a funeral for Richard Tan, a 16 year old boy, who was diagnosed with brain cancer. He fought it for quite some time now, and unfortunately.. he passed away on Tuesday morning at 2AM while he was at home resting. On saturday, TGAC arrived at the funeral at around 9:10am. Right when i entered .. i wanted to cry. There were pictures from when Richard was born to when he graduated in grade 8 posted at the entrance. It broke my heart, the whole funeral. i just couldnt stop crying. Even typing this right now, and thinking back to Saturday, i'm tearing up all over again. It's horrible to see someone so young pass away. Richard had a huge future ahead of him, he had so much to still experience. I just can't imagine how hard it is for the Tan family. Losing the youngest son like that. No parent wants to see their child go before them. All the cries that i saw and heard that morning .. i just can't seem to erase it from my mind. Seeing how many tissues they used in just an hour .. completely broke my heart. Sitting there, i honestly just wished that Richard would just pop up and say he was only sleeping or something. just, something. i just wanted him to just wake up at that moment. Even till now, i still don't want to believe that he's gone from this world. I know how much he suffered here on earth, and he's finally able to be in heaven and can finally be in peace.. but a part of me just wants him back here on earth, attending TGAC, becoming closer to us, all healthy and smiling. I know Richard probably wouldn't want that though.

He fought a battle for such a long time. 3 months, having to endure such pain. He won though. He won the battle against his body because he was strong and brave, and he believed in God. And even till the very end, he asked his mother to attend church again. He strengthened his relationship with God, wanting to follow him forever, and got baptized. Everything he did, he put God first no matter what. It's sad for us to know that he's not here in this world anymore, but we should be happy. Happy because Richard is finally free from the pain, happy because he is finally resting beside God in heaven. Happy because we know that God is taking care of him up there. I just pray that the Tan family can try and also look at the positive things in this. I know it's hard for them, especially right now, but i know God is still with them, watching over them every step of the way.

Through this experience, we were able to open our eyes to see that life is only temporarily, and God can take it away from us whenever he wants. It shows just how fragile life is, and once it's gone, we can never get it back. Many people aren't grateful for what they have in this life, to just be able to walk, breathe, see, feel, hear, smell, taste and lots more. We should treat each day as our last because we never know what will happen tomorrow. One day we can be perfectly healthy, and the next, our bodies could fail us.

Rest in peace Richard, you will never be forgotten.♥