A good man gone
Shocking... actually not really. Dad's been sick for over 17 years. Even now we aren't 100% sure just what he died of. Dad's heart was enlarged so it had a lot of problems though they did mention kidney failure and he had bleeding in the stool which was black so he was bleeding in the stomach. When he was first diagnosed the doctors gave him 5 more years... which sorta proves how stubborn/resilient my old man was XD...still life seems so short... at least I was here when it happened... God knows how much it would have sucked if it happened in Cebu.
...I miss him already. Haven't bawled my eyes out since he flatlined in the hospital (which by the way is the most painful thing I've ever had to watch) so I'm not sure if I'm just holding it in or actually well adjusted...what ever else though, life goes on and Dad surely wouldn't be happy if I moped around.
It happened pretty quickly too...his passing I mean. that and we had him created just hours after... A bunch of stuff happened at the wake:
1 we got like fifty wreaths, seriously. notably from my friends, the companies where my aunts and uncles work (isn't t weird that the expensive one of orchids came from Childfund, a company who sends unfortunate kids to school?), PAGCOR branches and departments (with the most surprising being from the slot machines)
2 my brother threw the glass bottle of holy water at my dad's ashes... good thing the mass cards were under so they cushioned the bottle XD
3 it turns out that so many friends and relatives of mine know each other...
4 We got enough mass cards to ensure that there will be more than enough prayers being said for dad to raise him up to heaven... In fact he may overshoot it.
5 by the end of the wake we had enough juice, anlene, wam, breadstuff (from lots of different bakeries) and assorted candies and nuts to start our own sari-sari store..
6 apparently one is not allowed to attend a wake in rubbershoes... my grandma took my sisters and I to the mall and wouldn't let us leave till we picked two black pants and two white shirts to wear plus black footwear (i looked like a waiter! XD)
7 pantries are great places to hide in...
8 one of the priests kept saying "gaby" instead of my dad's name during the mass (everyone kept looking at me at the start then at my grandfather {my nickname's "gabbie" while lolo's is "gaby"})...after the mass lolo walked up to him and said "I'm still alive" and the priest replied "congratulations"....ewan ko na...
9 found out that the brother of my great-grandmother is still alive...
10 mom found this great poem in one of the mass cards:
I'm Free
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free,
I'm following the path God laid for me.
I took His hand when I heard Him call,
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way,
I found that place at the close of the day.
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh a kiss,
Ah yes, these things, I too, will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow,
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much,
Good friends, good times, a loved one's touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up you heart and share with me,
God wanted me now, He set me free.
May my Dad rest in peace and watch over my family and me.
