memento mori

I saw an accident yesterday morning while I was on my way to work. A car hit a woman who was crossing C-5 Road. The road was slippery because it was raining; C-5 is notorious for road accidents because the road is so wide and people constantly disregard warnings not to cross.

The impact was hard enough for the woman's body to totally break the car's windshield, then she was thrown over the car. When we stopped she was lying crumpled behind the car, and people were just running over to help.

I saw too many details. Her hands were fisted and they were gray. She was wearing a blue-green blazer and skirt. She was wearing stockings, and the bottom of her feet were dirty. When we passed the car that hit her I saw her shoes, flat black ones with bows, lying where her feet must have been when the car struck her. And a few feet away, her little pink purse that must have contained makeup, toothbrush, and office keys.

I didn't see her face (thankfully). But the thought that struck me was that she could be a mother who forgot to say goodbye to her kids that morning because she was running late (otherwise, why would she cross the road on a rainy morning when there was a pedestrian overpass some distance away?). And I wondered if she would see her family again.

It also struck me that life is really too short. In a moment you could be gone, never mind if you planned a really grand anniversary trip to Singapore next year. You never really know if you're still coming home in the evening. You never know if this morning's kiss is the last kiss you'll ever plant on your baby's face.

It's funny how the human mind processes these things. One road accident seen up close, and I start thinking of 'Carpe diem.' Yes, seize the day. There's even a better one: Memento mori. Remember that you are mortal. Life is short and time is fleeting.