gantuya ganbat.
june 6, 1985-october 26, 2010.
so there's this girl that went here at byuh. she was in my art class. her name was gantuya, but everyone called her gana for short. she was so kind. i didn't have many conversations with her, but i still knew she was kind. her happiness radiated off of her and shone brighter than anything else to everyone else. she was always smiling. always. i couldn't help but smile when i saw her because it was contagious. every monday, wednesday, and friday from 7:30am-9:40am i was lucky enough to see her smile.
well, for the last 2 weeks in class we've been working on a project where we are spread out at opposite ends of the hallway and had to draw it. everyone is in their own secluded space so i never really noticed if people were absent. i didn't notice that gana wasn't there monday or wednesday. that's awful to say, but it's the truth. i didn't realize that she was gone. so imagine my shock when i heard the news on friday when we were all gathered together again in the classroom. my professor asked if we had all been informed about gana. myself and 2 other people raised our hands because we had not heard about it. he continued to explain how she passed away. i was confused because at first i didn't even realize. as he continued to talk, i looked around the classroom. we were all siting in a circle and i looked around that circle at least 5 times. there's only 15 of us in the class so it's really small. but i kept looking and sure enough, she wasn't there. she was gone. but really... gone.
our professor continued to explain how she wasn't feeling well and then unexpectedly became very ill at the beginning of the week and was admitted into the hospital. on monday, i was drawing the hallway. on monday, gana was in the hospital bed. i didn't even realize...
the doctors told her that she had a blood disorder and that her red blood cells were attacking her immune system. on wednesday, october 26th, gana was gone.
just like that. she was gone. so quickly. no warning. nothing. from what i've been told she had cancer and didn't know. and the cancer had completely taken over her body. within a couple of days gana went from drawing at the other end of the hallway, to leaving this earth.
i remember one time we were outside in art and we were instructed to draw a tree. gana was sitting next to me but she sat down looking at the ground and wasn't drawing. she didn't feel well. when the professor came over wondering what was wrong she explained that she didn't feel well. she ended up leaving that day. that was 3 weeks ago.
yesterday morning i attended gana's memorial service. so many people were there. so many people were touched by gana.
gana was from mongolia. her mother is very ill and has been in the hospital. when gana passed away her mother wasn't informed because they were afraid that the news would impact her health even more. however, they finally informed her and she was able to fly all the way to hawaii and speak at the memorial. that only happens from the help of the lord.
everyone knew gana. everyone agreed that you couldn't find something bad to say about her. like i said earlier, she was truly a happy person. always smiling. my heart breaks for her family. her soon-to-be fiance spoke at the memorial service. my heart breaks for him too. but the affect that gana had on people lives on.
i didn't know gana very well at all. i wish i had though because from what i've seen she was an amazing person. but for my own selfish reasons i can't help but admit that in a way i'm almost glad that i didn't know her better so that i wouldn't have to go through the heart break of losing such a wonderful friend.
even though i didn't know gana that well, she still taught me something. she taught me to cherish life. to love life. to be happy with life. there will always be someone that is going through a tougher time than you. always. she taught me to make every second count with the ones that count the most to you. gana was gone so suddenly. just a few days and she was gone. none of us know when we're going to die. so we need to live each day as if that's it. always tell the people around you, you love them. i've always believed these things, but gana reminded me that it's really so important. sometimes it takes a harsh tragedy for you to realize what's important in life. this entire week here in hawaii has been cloudy and rainy which is very out of the ordinary. saturday morning when i stepped outside of the memorial service the sun was shining brighter than ever. gana is looking down on us, still radiating her kindness and love to us all more than ever. thank you for that special gift gana. thank you for your example. rest in peace <3
"some people come into our lives and quickly go. some people move our souls to dance. they awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. they stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same."
-flavia weedn
this quote was on gana's memorial service program
