As the end of the year is looming very near, many can't help but feel nostalgic and maybe a little melancholic. Each one of us has a different version of their year; maybe good, maybe bad or maybe somewhere in the middle.

For me, 2008 had been a little bit of everything. Some experiences were sweet and memorable, some being bad and distressing and of course many were bittersweet.

But regardless of everything which had happened, I'd like to say that 2008 had been a very meaningful year. Not just because I took a supposedly very important exam like every other people my age. But it's because so much had happened and all of them are memories which I would always remember whether I want to or not. Experiences which had become the highlights of my life and the eye-openers for me towards friendship, love and life.

Love had come and go, death had greeted my loved one and new lives were born. Friendships were mended and maybe broken and perhaps, strengthened.

If I had learned anything this year, it would be that many things are ephemeral but there are some which are perpetual. And I have to start learning to distinguish between the two because I have learned the hard way that we only realize the more important ones are only appreciated when you lose them and that is when the 'what-if's and 'if-only's begin.

But the important question is do I regret it? Given a chance, would I turn back the time and amend the past?

My answer would be no, regardless how much the offer would entice me. Heartbreaks, losses and death are the parts and parcels of life. We all live, make mistakes and then regret them. But we need to remember that those mistakes are the things which would shape who we would be. People learn from their mistakes, gain experiences from them and choose their future based on them.

They say we musn't look back. But if we don't, how would we learn from our past mistakes? Do we just pretend some things had never happened and continue making the same errors over and over again?

Do look back but don't live in the past. Live for today and hope for tomorrow.

I would be a hypocrite if I said I didn't have anything I regretted doing. In fact, it would be a lie if I said I had never ran away from mistakes I myself perpetrated. But it's like what I had said earlier, they were eye-opening and regardless how bitter those memories may be, they have formed the guideline I need to carry on and move forward.

Wounds heal, memories may become forgotten and new thigs are to be found at every corner we take in life, sometimes even surprising us in the weirdest ways. So when trouble is what we find at a certain corner, just carry on with your head held high because there are people around us always ready to hear us out, to pull us out from the dark times and give the light we need to hope again. You will get better in time.

Of course I would miss everything about my lovely grandmother, from her nagging ways and to her loving embrace. And N, who had been a good friend and shared her happy times with me those few times you were willing. And I would miss having Elle next to me everyday since next year would be her busy years. Most of all, I would miss everything I had shared with my family, who will begin to start a new chapter in our lives soon, just like everybody else.

Cherishing them will be my priority for we never know what the future holds for us.

Expect the unexpected.

Yours truly,
Ms Hope