This new friend of mine

I did not know him until recently. A little guy with goaty beard studying PhD. One of those guys who left his country and beloved ones to make a better future for himself and his later children. He was a cool guy; although I had sensed some strange things about him. I knew he had some problems with the new atmosphere here. Recently, I heard he is so sick of this entire PhD thing that decided to get out of here and get back home. He said he was not home sick, just tired of studying and doing stupid assignments and stuff, and that he could not concentrate very well on his studies. We tried to convince him to stay here, and that everything is gonna be alright. He would not listen to you; he might suddenly start telling a joke or just laughing out loud with no good reason! But all these just added to my fondness toward him. I did not have the chance to get to know him better.

Now, I’m sitting here in my room, safe and sound, listening to the Bach’s music, the window is open, fresh air comes in, and I feel so alive! But just 3 blocks away, in the university hospital, this new friend of mine is struggling with a nasty brain tumor. They may have to do the operation on his brain any minute… Nobody knows how he’ll be the next week! His family is in a mental fog of questions and concerns.

When I visited him early this morning, he was still laughing; but not if they had not injected some morphine to relieve his pain. The only thing he said he was concerned of, was his family and all. He was so strong though. He had no fear.

Just 2 hours ago I was there again. He was not conscious. They had done this MRI thing on his brain. It seems that the tumor is in his frontal lobe of brain. The doctor said the tumor is so big that if they could not relive the pressure inside his skull, they would have to do the operation tonight. We were all shocked!

I am sitting here

in my room,

safe and sound,

with fresh air

blowing on my face,

and music

flying over my head,

at the same time

a new friend of mine

is struggling with death,

with a tumor in his head

just three blocks away.