"Please don't forget me", were the last words my dying grandpa uttered to me before he passed away. As an 11-year-old seeing someone who was that close to me die right within my grasp, I was shocked and couldn't react. I wondered why someone who has been there for me since day one would think that I would ever forget them. My grandpa, a great geologist took me on many wonderful adventures and taught me the difference between a regular stone and one that is worth much more than that. Being at his house was always a privilege, it showcased an array of rocks, each with its own glimmer and shine, his huge bundle of cassettes from his youthful disco shenanigans, oh how I loved building houses and garages for my toy cars with them. Every weekend as a child, I looked forward to visiting my grandpa because that's where I felt free, fries, my favorite dumplings, the spicy instant noodles, everything that still reminds me of the good memories I had built with my grandpa. Despite all this, he still felt that he needed to remind me time and time again to not forget him when he is gone. The most stoic person I have seen, shedding tears that I never once imagined him to shed. What he felt during his final moments is something that I could never imagine. His departure made my life feel empty, who was going to invite me to their house on the weekends, who was going to teach me about his geographic tools, and who was going to make me feel like the child I was with him? No one. Losing him was a blessing and a curse, if he had been here, I would have never learned the fragility of human life, and the importance of gratitude. Even now, he is teaching me many things just not about the peculiar instruments I found in his drawers. I thought that regret only clouded those who were on their deathbed, but no, it very much clouds those around the deathbed as well. "Could I have been a better grandson?", "Should I have said sorry if I had ever hurt him?", "Was the attitude I showed him at the park necessary?", questions like these came to me one after another when I came to realize that my grandpa is actually gone and that he won't be back. Once I learned that tomorrow was not guaranteed, I started reflecting more and more on my actions and the effects they could be having on my loved ones because, at the end of the day, I don't want to catch myself thinking about whether I was good enough should I lose another loved one. However, this is not a matter of my reputation in front of my loved ones but a matter of giving me the state of mind that I have done all that I could to be the best version of myself. Vice versa, if I found myself on the deathbed with all my loved ones around me, I don't want the shame of not being able to look them in the eyes because I wasn't competent enough to be their son, brother, grandson, cousin, or friend. "Please don't forget me", I hope that is not a sentence I hear again because regardless of the good things it brought me, it also sent shocks and chills down my spine that is still reverberating.