Farewell Susan

I got to know Philip first, in the early 70’s, when I was attending University; he was a fresh graduate from England and was lecturing to open up our minds on the usefulness of computing. Whereas Susan, wife of Philip, was then better known to me, to start off, as the austere secretary of Tim Taylor, sister of my colleague Jean Pierre. As the years went, fate or (I prefer) God arranged for me to get closer to Susan & Philip. Together with Philip and a bunch of fore sighted individuals, we set up the Toastmasters organization in Mauritius. During the teething period of Toastmasters, I got to work closely with Philip and learnt to appreciate his uprightness and honesty: ‘un homme de principe’. No fooling around and straight to the point seems to be Philip’s motto. Philip, a left brainer, is methodical in his approaches, always punctual and he hates wasting time, energy and any resources for that matter. When I got to meet Susan more often at work, I could sense that the couple shared the same values and were driven by the quest for continuous improvement in life. Both of them are persons of few words, I would even dare to say persons of one word, with a high sense of respect for others whilst being kind and generous. Later, we met more often and worked together on projects as we were members of the Rotary club of Port Louis. I enjoyed their fellowship. What I admired most in them is their sense of duty towards their loved ones; parents, children; towards their work and the society at large. Because of their humility, it was only when Philip became president of the Rotary club that their human goodness became prominent and shone as the couple was in the limelight.

This afternoon, I came back from Susan’s funeral! Or farewell function! She left us too soon at 54, too soon for her children and Philip, and too soon for the crowd that came to bid farewell to her. Tim, her boss for whom she had worked for 34 years, made a speech on her life story; her continuous drive to reach loftier heights; her sense of duty; her hard work; her dedication to her family; and the joy and fun she carried. Farewell to the Queen Bee of the 3^rd floor! Later, Jonathan, their son, paid hommage to his mother, thanking her for the love, care and laughter she bestowed upon him, his sisters and his dad.

How would I have felt if it were the case of bidding farewell to a close friend who had decided to migrate to some distant country, leaving her children to fend for themselves? I would cherish the lovely moments we shared together; taken stock of the good things we have achieved together; thank God for having made it possible; wish my friend success in her new abode and pray that God looks after her. What is then the difference with the present situation? Susan is gone forever. I shall not see her ever in the same form on earth.

 To think about it, is it not the way you and I shall go? It would be sad and even somewhat wasteful or meaningless if there is no life after life. I wish, hope and believe that there would be life after.  At least, there would be something to look forward to!  Is it reasonable to say that the more people have this wish; the more it may turn out to be true? No one has ever come back from death to prove life after life to mankind, except if we believe in Jesus Christ and His and our resurrection.  He did come back. Is death  only a passage way to a rebirth in another world or dimension?  This is the way we are heading: the essence of our life is thus found.Farewell.