igoism

ofcoursenat:

I haven’t written like this in a long time. Unfortunately, most of the time I would spend these days would be buried in books or notes, studying anatomy or physiology or histology or biochemistry. If ever I do write, it would be nothing like the lofty writing I used to do back in high school and…

Tyrion Lannister: “Let me give you some advice, b*st*rd. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.”

***

Most will agree that the loss of a beloved leaves a void inside. Many people would make it a point to cover it up and try to fill it with some other “substances,” such as imagined things, what ifs, and what could have beens.

When we ask, “Sino kaya magiging girlfriend niya kung buhay pa siya?” or “Saan kaya siya nagtatrabaho ngayon,” we fall into this trap of attempting to stuff the void with invariably insufficient substitutes.

But who ever said that every void, every hole, needs to be filled? Why not glorify the absence instead, and make a presence out of it? Why not make armor out of it?

The best way to honor Joey, then, is to live as he did, and as he would: with passion, with kindness, with a smile (a goddamned handsome smile that melted the hearts of many a kolehiyala, to be more specific).

Never forget who he was. The rest of the world may, but we, his friends and family, should wear his absence like armor, such that the world could gain from him despite his (physical) absence.

i miss you, bro!