Unfortunate incidents make us realised what is the meaning of appreciate and grateful

Abroad, we have our King of Pop, and back home, we have our Yasmin Ahmad who went to the spirit world recently.
My own acquaintance? About 2 weeks ago, my colleague told me that her friend's son is in coma. The boy is just 1 year and 10 months old. On that fateful day, he was with the maid at the rear seat, while the mother at the front seat. He was chatting, kissing, and playing with his mother. I believe, he wasn't buckled up. The maid was sleeping. At one point, the driver was avoiding something, resulting the car hit the divider and spin few times. During the spinning, the boy was flung out onto highway's drain through the rear window. The body looks scratched a little bit, except the head. His head swollen. And he was put in ICU for few days. Scan result shows that his brain is dead. However, the family is still hoping he will be alright. Few days later, the Doc realised that his spine is broken. Besides that, his mouth was bleeding, because he was biting his own tongue. One week has passed. Went for 3 brain scans. The mother give in. She decided to turn him off from the life support.
This morning, I received a sms from my friend. One of our friend's daughter passed away yesterday. Reason being? No one knows the answer. Waiting for post-mortem result. Her daughter is just 3 years old! I've seen her photo before. She's a normal and healthy child. Her looks resembles the mother.
Our neighbour who lives 2 doors away was down with lung cancer. This surprise us. Because she's a normal housewife who cleans the house everyday. She's someone who did the laundry everyday. She's someone who does gardening everyday. She's not old. She's not fat. Their family car Honda rarely touched! Instead of driving that car out to fetch his son to and fro school, she chose to drive a smaller car. Her husband ride motorcycle to work. One word. Thrifty. After her diagnose, I never see her again. Maybe she stays indoor all the time. Or maybe she's in the hospital. After all the sacrifices, yet to enjoy or reap the fruits she has to be bed-ridden.
It make me ponder what is life? What is there in the afterlife world? Is life just about suffering? Suffering from illness? Suffering from lack of money? Suffering from lack of power?
Yesterday my husband said to me "The other day when I went to attend the class with my mum, we sat next to each other. I saw her hands. Her hands wrinkled a lot". Time flies. We aged with time. We definitely cannot stop time. Other than appreciate with what I have and be grateful, I do not know what else can I do..