Thinking of Mae
We can all feel bad about losing money to a thief, or a cellphone to a snatcher, or even the occasional heartbreak when we lose someone to another person. But all these can not compare to losing someone so young, so full of life, at a very young age, to one of life's unexplained mysteries - aneurysm.
Mae Isabel Frances Vargas, a student of mine (one of the very very few students - I can count them with the fingers on one hand - who was able to take four courses under me) passed away at 3am this morning at the ICU at Saint Luke's Hospital. She collapsed Tuesday evening, went into coma on the way to the hospital, and was declared clinically dead since yesterday morning. They removed all life support systems yesterday at noontime, but she heroically maintained a heartbeat until mid afternoon; at which point the doctors decided to make one last herculean effort to revive her. But at 3 am her body finally gave way. Her heart just stopped beating.
The doctors said it was congenital - she had that abnormality in one of the nerves in her brain since childhood. This of course does not make the pain any less bearable; it merely makes us feel a bit comforted that she at least reached her twenties and had some time to enjoy life before her date with the inevitable.
I have been thinking about Mae since Wednesday after I visited her at the ICU. I have been wondering how anything like this could happen to someone so young. She just finished all her academic requirements, and just a few days ago, she was fretting about not being able to submit her application for graduation on time.
Some things in this life are truly beyond man's control. They do not make sense. But in time, I hope that I and the other people whose lives have been touched by Mae's quiet ways, will be able to see through our tears and our grief and trust that God in His infinite wisdom knows what is truly best.
In the meantime, please pray for Mae. Please pray for all of us who are grieving.
Mae, (I actually called her Isabel even if everyone else called her Mae- I thought that was the more descriptive of her three names) wherever you are, I will miss you.
Mae Isabel Frances Vargas, a student of mine (one of the very very few students - I can count them with the fingers on one hand - who was able to take four courses under me) passed away at 3am this morning at the ICU at Saint Luke's Hospital. She collapsed Tuesday evening, went into coma on the way to the hospital, and was declared clinically dead since yesterday morning. They removed all life support systems yesterday at noontime, but she heroically maintained a heartbeat until mid afternoon; at which point the doctors decided to make one last herculean effort to revive her. But at 3 am her body finally gave way. Her heart just stopped beating.
The doctors said it was congenital - she had that abnormality in one of the nerves in her brain since childhood. This of course does not make the pain any less bearable; it merely makes us feel a bit comforted that she at least reached her twenties and had some time to enjoy life before her date with the inevitable.
I have been thinking about Mae since Wednesday after I visited her at the ICU. I have been wondering how anything like this could happen to someone so young. She just finished all her academic requirements, and just a few days ago, she was fretting about not being able to submit her application for graduation on time.
Some things in this life are truly beyond man's control. They do not make sense. But in time, I hope that I and the other people whose lives have been touched by Mae's quiet ways, will be able to see through our tears and our grief and trust that God in His infinite wisdom knows what is truly best.
In the meantime, please pray for Mae. Please pray for all of us who are grieving.
Mae, (I actually called her Isabel even if everyone else called her Mae- I thought that was the more descriptive of her three names) wherever you are, I will miss you.
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