Remembering Shiela Marie Advincula

I was multi-tasking this morning (like I normally do)---cooking breakfast and surfing the web---when out of curiosity I had this narcissistic urge to Google my name.  Well, most of the hits pointed me to my blog site but there was this site, melanieuchi.multiply.com, that apparently mentioned my name.  Apparently, it was a rollcall of sorts with a bunch of other names (a couple of which were officemates) and then I realized that it was the blog site of the aunt of a former officemate's nephew who had bone cancer.  She made a blog to thank those who contributed for her niece's chemotherapy way back in 2007. 

Her last post was dated November 26, 2007 and I wanted to think that the date did not mean the worst of thoughts.  Unfortunately, it was.  Her name was Sheila Marie Advincula---SM for short---and she was 10 years old when God took her to become one of His angels.

The blog site contained  pictures of SM during the various stages of her treatment and I found it ironic that there's this little girl suffering from a debilitating form of cancer still able to smile while other people sulk and curse with their petty problems. 

Sheila Marie may not have lived to enjoy a full life but she left us with a lifetime lesson that our existence is how we choose it to be and no matter the circumstance that we find ourselves in---it's all a matter of how we want to deal with it.  Life is a CHOICE.   

May eternal light shine upon our beloved SM oh Lord and may she rest in peace.

It's a wonder how SM can still smile given her situation...