Prayers

I am not the most positive-thinking person.  I am not very religious.  Honestly, I am not even sure if I believe in prayers.  But today, and from now on, I ask that you keep my grandpa in your thoughts.  Or, if you are a prayer, please include him in your prayers.  He will be in my constant thoughts. 

A couple of weeks ago, we found out that my grandpa in Korea was diagnosed with an oral cancer.  While I asked for people's prayers on Facebook, I didn't really have the courage to post on this blog because I wanted to be careful about what I think, what I say.  He is the first person I ever known close to me to have a cancer.  None of us knew how to react.  It was all too surreal.  There are many things I am concerned about - receptivity of his treatment due to his old age, the extent of his cancer (we don't know yet), having no one to take care of him except for my grandma who is just as old as him, and everyone directly involved in this journey ahead.  His children, including my mom, all live overseas - one in Japan, one in the U.S., and the other one in Singapore.  

I am surprisingly very calm about this.  Perhaps the calmness comes from the fact that I haven't seen my own grandpa for more than 10 years, so it hasn't hit me yet.  I mainly look out for my mom's emotion, who certainly has been vulnerable since the initial news.  Heck, how would I react if one of my parents had a cancer?  I don't expect to fully understand what my mom is going through, what my aunt and uncle are going through.  I just know that I will always be there to stay strong for my mom, to lend my ears, and to make her laugh whenever necessary.  I feel like that's the only thing I can do to make the situation a little better.

Today, call your loved ones and let them know how much you love them.  You never know when something bad is going to hit on one of you know.  Even though I haven't seen him in a decade, I know he's a sweet person whose peacefulness was always contagious; that's what I love him about the most.  I'm just thankful to live during a time like this, where technology enables us to be closer than ever before and still gives us a chance to stay in touch with our loved ones with a touch of a button. 

So, I ask for your prayers and send positive thoughts to his way.  The only thing I wish is that he continues the quality of life he maintained and suffers no pain.  Let him have a positive journey through all of this.