ရှော ရဲဇော်အောင် သို့ လွမ်းဆွတ်ခြင်း
Before I begin, today is Shaw's birthday. It pains me to write this eulogy. He left many people behind on 28th May 23 and I unfortunately happened to be one of them. Today, he would turn 27 years old.
I met Shaw and Lily during a protest in San Chaung, where we formed bonds and made memories. The three of us became inseparable. Together, we embarked on many thrilling adventures, and one of which took me to Mandalay, their hometown.
We spent blissful days together in the city of Mandalay and its surroundings before Shaw went home to spend time with his beloved family. I followed Lily to visit his family outside of Mandalay. On the day we were to return to the city of Mandalay, Shaw gave Lily a call to inform us of his impending trip. We met at Kuthodaw and settled at a stall in front of the sacred monument.
My thoughts were clouded, and I struggled to find the right words to say. I remember repeatedly urging Shaw to take care of himself, reminding him to stock up on medicines before our separation. Lily, too, wore a heavy heart, his emotions visible for all to see. Hence, Lily and I were indecisive. We both wished to join Shaw. It was our first farewell, and little did we know that life would lead us on separate paths later on.
Lily and I came back to YAN, not together but separately.
We set out on our own paths.
Days passed and turned into months.
July 21 came with news, whispered by Shali, that Shaw had returned to our town. We sought refuge at her place on Yaw Min Gyi Street and enjoyed a joyous reunion filled with lots of laughter, drinks, smokes, and delicious food for two days. Then, on the 3rd of July 21, a date that will forever be etched in our memories, we found ourselves fleeing for our dear lives after a heated disagreement with Eric, a friend of Shali. She threatened that she would expose our identity and secrecy.
We left their place hastily at 9:45 pm. The curfew loomed over us, prohibiting anyone from being outside past 10 pm. Nervously, we made our way to Park Royal Hotel on foot, which was the only place to go, passing a security group stationed at Basic Education High School Dagon 1. Needless to say, anxiety gripped us, but fortune favoured us as I happened to have an identification card and 90K.
Crafting a story, I deceived the receptionist and manager, and managed to secure a night's stay there on the condition that no breakfast would be served. As the bellboy led us to the room where we would spend the night, we came to realise that Lily was wearing mismatched flip-flops, and Shaw was in running shorts. That brought a beaming smile to our faces, and we nervously laughed at ourselves.
As we tried to sleep in our hotel room, Shaw told us that he had cooked beef for dinner, which we did not have a chance to enjoy. We went to bed hungry yet anxious that night. The next day, Shaw's girlfriend came to our rescue, and we found shelter at A Ma's flat.
Lily took on the role of our cook and provided nourishment for our weary souls, while Shaw and I played bartender. Shaw liked his mojitos, and I enjoyed making them. Days passed, and circumstances led Shaw to part ways with his girlfriend. Together, we sought solace in smoking, drinking, and more drinking to mourn his loss. Meanwhile, the second wave of COVID-19 was taking lives from all walks of life. We set our grief aside and volunteered to buy medicines and food for the sick.
In the beginning of August 21, I bid farewell to Shaw and Lily. It was supposed to be a short trip, but I never had a chance to return to them. Shaw, too, eventually parted ways with Lily as he embarked on another journey. The separation brought me a sense of melancholy, yet life carried on.
Three weeks ago, Shaw reached out to me, willing to connect through a video call. During our conversation, we caught up on the many events that unfolded in our time apart. He seemed to be quite cheerful. We ended our conversation once again with our longing to be reunited soon.
When Lily called me a few days later, I eagerly shared the news of him and his well-being. Little did we know that these moments would become precious fragments of time, memories to hold on to tightly.
Three days ago, the unimaginable happened. Shaw's ex-girlfriend sent me a message, delivering the devastating news of Shaw's departure. Shock reverberated through my entire being. The enormity of the loss I felt was beyond measure.
Shaw had dreamt of becoming a tour guide.
The last two posts he shared on his social media account expressed his longing to return home, if only for a little while, and to embrace his mother and find solace in her comforting arms.
As I reflect on his final moment, I wonder whose thoughts occupied his mind and what thoughts weighed heavily on him.
There is no shadow of doubt that the burdens he carried on his shoulders and the jungle life that he had to adapt to over 22 months, the erosion of hopes, trusts, lack of comforts and TLC had taken a toll on him.
Today, as we remember Shaw on his birthday, let us celebrate the light he brought into our lives - the laughter, the adventures, and the shared experiences that made our time together truly remarkable. Though he may no longer be with us, his spirit lives on in the memories we hold dear.
Shaw, my little brother, your presence will forever be missed. May you find peace.
Lily took on the role of our cook and provided nourishment for our weary souls, while Shaw and I played bartender. Shaw liked his mojitos, and I enjoyed making them. Days passed, and circumstances led Shaw to part ways with his girlfriend. Together, we sought solace in smoking, drinking, and more drinking to mourn his loss. Meanwhile, the second wave of COVID-19 was taking lives from all walks of life. We set our grief aside and volunteered to buy medicines and food for the sick.
In the beginning of August 21, I bid farewell to Shaw and Lily. It was supposed to be a short trip, but I never had a chance to return to them. Shaw, too, eventually parted ways with Lily as he embarked on another journey. The separation brought me a sense of melancholy, yet life carried on.
Three weeks ago, Shaw reached out to me, willing to connect through a video call. During our conversation, we caught up on the many events that unfolded in our time apart. He seemed to be quite cheerful. We ended our conversation once again with our longing to be reunited soon.
When Lily called me a few days later, I eagerly shared the news of him and his well-being. Little did we know that these moments would become precious fragments of time, memories to hold on to tightly.
Three days ago, the unimaginable happened. Shaw's ex-girlfriend sent me a message, delivering the devastating news of Shaw's departure. Shock reverberated through my entire being. The enormity of the loss I felt was beyond measure.
Shaw had dreamt of becoming a tour guide.
The last two posts he shared on his social media account expressed his longing to return home, if only for a little while, and to embrace his mother and find solace in her comforting arms.
As I reflect on his final moment, I wonder whose thoughts occupied his mind and what thoughts weighed heavily on him.
There is no shadow of doubt that the burdens he carried on his shoulders and the jungle life that he had to adapt to over 22 months, the erosion of hopes, trusts, lack of comforts and TLC had taken a toll on him.
Today, as we remember Shaw on his birthday, let us celebrate the light he brought into our lives - the laughter, the adventures, and the shared experiences that made our time together truly remarkable. Though he may no longer be with us, his spirit lives on in the memories we hold dear.
Shaw, my little brother, your presence will forever be missed. May you find peace.
အိမ်ပြန်လိုရရင် ခဏလေး ဖြစ်ဖြစ် ပြန်ချင်တယ် ဆိုတဲ့ရှော။
အမေ့ ကို ဖက်ပြီး ငိုချင်တဲ့ ရှော။
တိုးဂိုက် ဖြစ်ချင်ခဲ့တဲ့ ရှော။
နောက်ဆုံး အချိန်မှာ ဘယ်သူ့ အကြောင်း စဉ်းစားနေခဲ့လဲ ရှော။
Picture courtesy of the Artist Ma Khin Su Su Han (Khin's Aesthetopedia)