The power of knowing what you should do and kicking yourself later for not doing it...
Sunday - dad calls to tell me that my uncle (dad's cousin, flew in from America for a few months) had an accident. All he said was, "Its a head injury, come down to the hospital". He caught me in the middle of re-decorating my apartment, which, I reckon was in real bad shape. I've been shopping heaps the past few weeks, re-arranging furniture and looking forward to my idea of a perfect batchelor's pad. I was "in design groove", so didn't want to stop work on the place.
So, I figured I could visit my uncle in the hospital on Monday, after work. My mom calls later in the afternoon, from Bangalore (visiting my sister!) and pesters me to go visit my uncle. Something about showing your feelings for close relatives??? I wasn't in the mood to listen to my mom telling me what I should be doing, so I snapped back at her and kinda cut the conversation short.
Anyway, fast forward to later that evening - Mr. Conscience kicks in and has a gala time, feasting on my pensive thoughts! I had to remind myself that family comes first, so I drove out to the hospital. My cousin (uncle's son) was standing outside. He flew in from America for a wedding and was supposed to leave on Friday. I walked up to him and half cracked a line about not wanting to meet him like this - I was still under the impression that the injury wasn't too serious. Then my cousin tells me that his dad's brain-dead and probably won't last the night. He passed away before midnight...
Need we be ashamed of our tears... for they are the very rain on the dust of the earth.
