Where have they gone?

I used to be with them, talk and laugh with them, and they were a part of my life...they are no more now.

My parents whom I used to love and look up to for each and every thing in life..they are no more now.

My loved ones, my relatives and friends...my neighbors, school mates and acquaintances...many have gone away...they are no more now.

Where have they gone? 

They were so lively, so full of energy and activity, they were so ambitious and full of aspirations...all is left behind and they have gone past.

They are now just memories. They are now just the things that they had taught me through their life, their actions and their words. 

They are alive in the sense of the work they did and the legacy that they left behind.

Howsoever hardworking one might be, howsoever healthy and smart...he or she leaves this world and that too without any prior notice. It is highly desirable that a person thinks of this as the most predictable thing in life that one can be overtaken by death any time...any moment.

The memories of those who have left me and passed away are what keep me thinking that a person as a physical body might be there no more but his or her values, words, teachings, wisdom and way of life can have a great impact on others.

One of my friends from high school was highly ambitious. She was doing her Ph.D and had almost completed it when suddenly one day she was detected with blood cancer. She stayed alive for a few years and was in bed for chemo therapy. She was brave. Her struggle with life continued but she never gave up. She used to tell us that it was what God had decreed for her. She prayed and supplicated and never gave in. Then one day life handed her over to her everlasting abode. May she rest in peace.

So was my father, a very hardworking and energetic man. He was always in research, learning and teaching. He left the world but his work, his thoughts, his open mindedness and his affection still benefit us and others. 

Where are those people now? We can never tell for sure what happens to them after they die. But we can always pray for them and get a good lesson for our own selves. Just the way they are remembered for all their good deeds, actions and words we too will be remembered for the same. 

We might not be around in the physical form but our ongoing beneficial deeds will benefit others. We must learn the lesson from other's demise and leave such legacies behind that will keep us alive even after we die. 

These people are there within the memories of those whom they affected in a pleasant way, whom they loved sincerely, for whom they were helpful and caring and to whom they were examples or courage, love, hard work and sincerity.