After a hurricane, comes a rainbow

Some time ago, one of my close friends tried to commit suicide by jumping off from a building. Thankfully he survived the fall. We, his close friends, were all very disturbed. We had always been there for each other,  why didn't he confide in us if he was having problems?


He was hospitalized for a few months, and those were the quietest times of our group's friendship life.  As teenagers, we were all grappling with the ups and downs about growing-ups, we thought we have answers to our friends' problems, but we didn't!  Who would think that a guy like him --funny and always joking around -- would try committing suicide?

He was a young, healthy boy. What was on his mind when he decided to jump? He lost a few of his teeth, and he had staples and stitches all over his body. He will physically never be the same again, just like Jenny when her legs were amputated over 26 years ago.

Jenny didn't choose to give birth to still-borns. She didn't choose to have her legs amputated, let alone having them amputated wrongly. Reading her story makes me think how we should choose the courses of our lives.


During the recent Chinese New Year, I had the opportunity to visit Jenny at the Ipoh General Hospital. She was admitted again to prepare her for a surgery at the KL General Hospital. I went with a friend, his family and their friends, to see her to give her good wishes.

There she was, laying on the bed, perched on her elbows, dressed in the typical hospital gown, smiling so happily when she saw us. "Kong hei fatt choy," she greeted us.

We stayed in the hospital for almost 2 hours talking to her. One of the little girls who was with us asked Jenny how tall Jenny was before her legs were amputated. "5'6," Jenny replied, to which the little girl responded, "Wow, you must have been very pretty!"  Jenny smiled and gave her a hug.
It was a rainbow smile -- a smile I will always remember.
I smiled too.

Despite all her struggles... Jenny always chooses to be happy. It seems so easy for her to do this.
I wish my friend could meet Jenny and learn from her.  What is there bnot to smile when he has health, youth, family and so many friends!

Everyone has tough situations to deal with in life including us teenagers. Its just a matter of  handling things without doing anything negative. Whether we want to embrace tough situations and make the best out of them  or complain... especially when it comes to the small things in life that don't really matter.

So the next time you complain about the little things in life that won't matter in a while, think about Jenny.
So what's your excuse for being upset?

One of my favorite songs, "I can see clearly now"

-Rhonwyn-