We miss you mom
Today’s Guest Column is from Kevin Smith.
It’s been a very hectic week and I’m running on empty. I’m very sad to say my mom died last Saturday (Dec 15th). We left last Thursday early in the morning and drove to New Jersey in a severe snow and ice storm. By the time we got to the hospital it was all sleet and hail and the traffic was sliding in every direction. My gift from God, though, was that my wife and I and our daughter were able to talk to mom and be with her for most of the day. I was even optimistic that she would be getting out in a week or so. The next day she got worse and early Saturday morning she passed as we all held her hand.
My uncle also died the day before mom so we planned a double funeral with my relatives. He is my mom’s brother. During the mass I read Philippians 4, which talks about asking God for what you need and to pray about everything and if you do this you will experience God’s peace. This has been the most difficult week in my life. I love and miss you mom.
Hi Kev- We may ask why is it always at this time of the year sadness visits us. But in truth it doesn’t matter what time of the year it occurs when its someone close.
I always say he must want want her/him more than we do as he has a purpose for them.
Just remember the happry times you spent with her and try not to let her memory down in whatever you do from now on.
Our thought are with you and you family.
Hi Kevin - Sorry to hear the bad news about your Mom and your uncle. It is especially sad when this kind of thing happens at this time of year. Our prayers are with you, your family and your Mom and Uncle.
Hi Kevin, my heartfelt condolences. I can understand very well your feelings. My best German friend’s mom also died three days ago. Jim, you are right, this time of the year is many times a sad time.Kevin, our prayers are also with you, your family, your mom and your uncle. It’s hard to wish you a Merry Christmas. God bless!
Hi Kevin,
My sincere condolences for your profound loss. My prayers are for you and your family.
Karen
Jim, Bob,Klaus and Karen,
Than you very much.
Our prayers are with you and your family too. Yes, Philippians 4:6-7 is a good place to turn. I am so glad you could be with your mom before she died. May you be comforted by the God of all comfort.
So sorry to hear the news.
Regards to all your family
Deepest regrets Kevin on your tradgy losses.
soory kev that should read tragic.
AmericanLola, John and Frank,
Thank you
Sorry to hear that.
I didnt know it because I’d been hospitalized.
I extend my deepest condolence to you.
On Final Goodbye
A good friend had recently lost a very dear person in her life. This brilliant lady had built a real estate empire, handled complicated negotiations with the higher ups, authored a book on success and managed to come up firmly and triumphantly on her feet. But somehow, while sitting in front of me, tears pouring down her pretty face, I saw not the confident professional, but a very tender, vulnerable, innocent child trying to deal with what she believed to be life’s injustice – death of a beloved.
Another fellow traveler of this magnificent journey, whom I have known for close to two decades has left this world of dreams and has gone back HOME to reunite with his Creator. His beloved wife and son understood the process of transition and made his last days so special, for the living to remember his final goodbye.
Death. A mystery. It touches every human heart in different ways. Sometimes we make up stories about what will happen to us but we don’t really know. We cannot see beyond the corpse when a person dies. We speculate reincarnation or talk about it in terms of eternity. But beyond the physical, time does not exist –it becomes irrelevant. So, can we say perhaps, that death is the opposite of time? But what dies?
According to Tao person, nothing dies of the person but merely the identity or the collection of the individual’s labels and what they mean to all of us. For some reason, we designate ourselves a role to play while in a physical realm: a singer, a priest, a doctor, a thief, etc. It is like a shaman wearing layers of robes decorated with so many gems, and fetishes that identify the person. When the person dies, these layers of clothes and the decorations fall off – the human meaning ends. But, the naked self (soul) underneath still exists.
This is all great and intellectually stimulating thought, and easily comprehended when you’re looking from the ‘outside’. I understand this concept, the philosophical awareness on the subject. But when death visits your own family to fetch someone you love, the emotions override all the intellectual explanation. And for a split second you want to scream, beg for a little bit more time … “ Wait! It’s not yet time, I want to see her once again after 30 years of being away”
Farewell, my beloved sister/friend! Rest in Peace, Light and Love!�
Maria Agudo-Arkoncel July 29, 1937 – November 8, 2007 (in Davao City)
Indeed, death waits on all of us, but it never waits for the most convenient time for the living.
“You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death,open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one”.
Khalil Gibran – The Prophet