I know I’ve not updated for a week. I’ve just got back to work after a bad bout of fever and flu so there’s a huge backload of stuffs for me to clear before I can even think of updating this space; and if I ever do, I should be working on the interview with SG Blade Runner with The North Face or that half completed travel post and what I was busy with over the weekends + Mini Greenhouse, but I’m here and I’m not.
I received a very very very upsetting news on my Facebook Newsfeed this morning.
You may not know who she is, but I do. I’ve watched her videos on several rare occasions, I regret not following her more. If I’ve had, I would send her a letter or a parcel or something so that she knows her story had reached Asia and someone from Singapore had been inspired by her. I can imagine happy she would be to know that her name IS international.
But no I did not. I had taken it for granted thinking ‘she’s just a sensation’ or maybe even ‘yea, if she’s so strong she’ll survive the Cancer’. But no, she didn’t. I can only feel regret watching this video and hearing only names read out from within US, then seeing her excitement thinking she might have just got that 1 letter from overseas.
Just yesterday night I was watching a few of Ellen DeGeneres recorded shows, particularly those that showcased inventions by kids, something I’ve never really taken interest in previously. You know how funny it is, to see the heartbreaking news in the morning, then do some research in the afternoon to find out that Talia was featured in quite a number of Ellen’s show, and then realize that I’ve never chanced upon Talia’s interview even though I watch The Ellen DeGeneres show on YouTube quite often. Some of the videos were even pretty recent. This one was earlier this year.
What if I’ve paid less attention to those celebrity interviews and paid more attention to those kids inventions + interviews of inspiring people?
There’s such a short amount of time we have in this world – we are just passing through. Sometimes paying more attention to things that matter more could have made my time on Earth more worth while than bothering about other people’s lives just because they are stars. And I never should have never placed that sweeping tag on someone I’ve not even researched on, like how I just tagged Talia as a ‘sensation’, it was wrong.
As I was looking for more pictures of the dear little angel, I chanced upon a global tribute going on. So here’s my contribution to #alittlefishyproject , drawn with makeup the way she does best, taken with lots of colorful accessories the way I thought she might like, in her current favorite color blue.
Here’s some of my favorite pictures I have taken from everywhere else on the web. She’s truly an inspirational beauty, inside and outside.
Rest in peace and I’ll remember to look for you in Heaven 🙂
From The Ellen Show
“CoverGirl heard your story and they want to make you an honorary CoverGirl,” Ellen explained.
“I am inspired by people like yourself. I think there are a lot of people who go through a lot of struggling situations, and despite what the doctors have said and the cancer you’re going through, how do you stay so positive?” she asked.
‘”When people ask me that, what do you want me to do, be depressed? I mean a little fishy told me, ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!'” Talia responded, referring to Ellen’s character Dory in Finding Nemo.’
[…] a worser time than me. I think of Shariff (SG Blade Runner) who has only one foot. I think of Talia who stayed strong and positive throughout her ailment. I think of people who are visually handicap […]