The Choice

62. Save for the little fevers and colds I get every now and then, the only major sicknesses I’ve experienced in this lifetime were chicken pox and allergies. You, on the other hand, were quite a sickly child. According to your mother, you suffered many bouts of asthma and had dengue fever not once but twice, an exceptional occurrence since there are only 4 strains of dengue in the world. I tell you that you’re very lucky since you’ve survived and developed antibodies while I have none. When we were alone once you told me that at the brink of death at your hospital bed when you were a young boy, with a platelet count of only 9, your parents frantically searching for blood, you had a dream that you laid your head on our Lord’s lap. I thought it was a disturbing dream, and I believed every word of it. You told me how He asked you gently if you wanted to come with Him or stay in our world, in other words, to live or to die. And you begged to live, and wept. He smiled at you and granted your wish. As you opened your eyes in the hospital ward, the first thing you saw was a blood bag dripping away to give life back into your veins, and hope in your parents’ eyes. They were so relieved their beloved eldest recovered. You were far too young to be spirited away. You had a life to live, dreams to fulfill, wars to win and fears to overcome and besides, you had to meet me. And I am deeply thankful to Him for letting you stay on this earth. He gave you a choice. And you were strong enough to take the tougher road. You are an extremely lucky person, you know? So many people love, adore and value you and you deserve every bit of it because I know your soul is good and true. As you grew up, He made your body and heart stronger, with a mind as cunning and sharp as a knife. It would have been different had you made a different choice in your encounter. You grew into a good man with great potential. And all I could ask for. I guess that makes me just as lucky as you. Maybe more.