Niiya celebrated New Year's Day with a sense of foreboding that 2013 would be a sad time for her. And the tragic events of the first three months indicated that her misgivings were justified. First, she lost her beloved sister to cancer. Then, her sister-in-law had to undergo an operation to save her spine. Later, she learned that her former superior had battled cancer for four years before succumbing to the dreaded disease last week. A beloved cousin brought news that her husband has third stage liver cancer. Death seems inevitable. Who's next? Nobody could predict death. People joke about it, pass cynical comments and offer views on the subject. The only certainty is that sooner or later it will come for us. The following passage puts it aptly: “It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it h
People, places and everything in between