FOR most of us, death is complicated. For those dying, death is peaceful. For the religious, death is a destination. For the non-religious, well, death is death.
I am in my mid-20s, but I have witnessed heaps of funerals in this lifetime. Some of those were from relatives and friends who passed away from fighting a battle. But some were sudden and ill-timed like my own brother’s. (Not that death at any time is ever timely.)
And these experiences I had with death were so far the closest, yet they made me scared stiff of it.
Death to me is exactly like the scene from "Macbeth" where, once he finds out his wife is dead, Macbeth compares life to a candle by saying, "The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!" Which is so realistic because anyone can have his life taken as quickly as a candle is blown out. And that visual would give me the chills. It's no fun to lose someone you love, or in the case of Mr. Levy P. Laus, someone you’ve significantly looked up to as a kid with lofty ambitions.
More than a week ago, we were all shocked, bemused and saddened by the untimely demise of this great man -- a beloved boss, family-man, prime-mover, mentor, helper, builder, benefactor and icon.
And his funeral weighed heavily on my heart. It hit me who we really lost.
I was hurt. I was in denial. But as Tony Stark puts it perfectly: “Part of the journey is the end.” And in every ending, I am certain that there are new beginnings. And surely, LPL has left us a legacy to begin with. A legacy to carry on. Yes! Not only for the Laus family and LGC’s honchos, but for all of us -- big and small.
LPL started with a single note on that one peso bill: “May this peso turn into millions.” He started with the little he had, transformed it into a venture. And he left our beloved province better, immensely than when he found it.
And so I implore this generation of mine to follow LPL’s lead -- to make best use of our own one peso bills to make this society a better and more spirited place to leave in.
Whether you’re in business, education, arts, music, sports, content creation, speakership and what not, I’m in no doubt that we can all together make a dent in the universe, only if we pour our hearts out.
After all, the man said: “The future is so bright; you have to wear your shades.” We are the future.
And if his story would only have that Marvel-ish type ending, we all have the shot to appear in the post-credit scene and sequels.
We love you 3000, Sir LPL!