Stayin' Alive

MA came back from Sydney to spend Christmas with her family and also to catch up with her beloved school friends who's been with her since that fated day of her accident. She had came back to Jakarta twice since then and she's more alive than ever. I remember a night in Singapore when I received the phone call from her sister about her accident. MA was in a hospital with 78% 3rd degree burns on her body and nobody knew if she was going to live. Friends gathered together, signed cards, videotaped words of encouragements -- being there, giving her more reasons to live.

She said last night that she's sure that she was meant to live. In retrospect, it was a good thing that she just came out of the shower and wore nothing when the hot oil spilled all over her. If she had been wearing clothes, they would stick on her and it would've been more painful. She also said that now she's sure that no other pain could be worse than what she had gone through; she mentioned something about going through 10 child labour or something of that effect. 2 years after the accident, she could finally take off her body suit. Her skin has grown completely and it has a smooth surface; scarred all over but still a sucessful skin grafting procedure. She said that she hated the way her body looks, they way it has a funky temperature at times, but she's just happy that she's alive.

Last night we gathered once again, to celebrate the life we have and the friendship we keep, and to cherish time: the past, the present and the future.