MY LEARNINGS FROM A "NEAR DEATH" EXPERIENCE
A few minutes apart, a few blocks away, a man rode on the same subway D train…just like me, Saturday morning at 2 AM, we were so close but our fates were so different.
He was stabbed to death on a D train at 53st and Broadway, very close to the crowded Columbus circle-59 street stop. Police say the 36 year old got into a dispute with another man, who stabbed his neck and face with a knife. Then a life was gone forever.
There was me, so close to the scene but didn’t know any of this. All I cared was I needed to get to work and was upset/confused when the train stopped at 59 St and turned all the way back uptown. It was the first time I’ve ever experienced riding subway for years. They just said “Police investigation.”
When I got to work and learned about what happened, my heart stopped for a moment. I felt sad for the unknown man, his family, this tragedy, even the attacker-who might or might not expect this to happen….That man was probably on the way to home, or like me to work, but he would never imagine that it would be his last subway ride, and he was killed so brutally in public, you’d never have imagined.
I felt sad, scared and weirdly lucky for being alive this moment. I was wondering what was that man thinking before he closed his eyes forever? Who did he want to talk to? What did he want to say? What were the things he wished to do but hadn’t? What could he have done differently?
These questions led me to the realization that we really need to seize the moment, do what we want to do NOW, because we never know in life what would happen the next. It also reminded me of a recent remark by a man after his ex-wife became disabled during an accident. Not the exact verbatim but here it is: You must do what you love now, because life is so short and you never know. Remember to tell those loved ones ”I love you”, remember to enjoy life, and remember everyday is a gift, live it to the fullest!
When you open your eyes and see the sky, you are so really lucky.
