rain on my sunny day

last december 3, 2005 our family was hit hard by two contradicting emotions --> elation and grief..

my cousin was set to walk down the aisle at 3.30pm that saturday and she did.. but on 12noon that same day, we were all shocked and greatly grieved by the news of our tito's death.. we tried our best to go on with the wedding, not telling the bride, her dad (cause my tito was his bro) and our lola (the mom of my tito).. but one by one they all had to know after the wedding and you can just imagine how terribly painful that felt..

one weird thing about that day was the super sunny weather but the very strong rains... it seemed to reflect what our family was feeling that day..happy for someone close to us who would start a new life with her husband, and sad for our tito's beautiful life has ended...

my tito art, died of a massive heart attack.. though he was experiencing chest pains for a while, his death was very much unexpected.. at the age of 65, he left his wife and three grown-up children, and two of them were set to marry next year..during the morning of the day of his death, he looked well enough to be able to get past his previous mild heart attack and go home soon..and he actually said he would.. no one realized that HOME for him that day would mean a very different thing from our house in proj.4 or their house in Lucena..he went home with God, free from the pain he felt and the struggles he may face in our world.. his death, though unexpected by his family, was actually peaceful and prepared.. first of all he set up this business which he already left to his son, another for his wife, and then he helped his other son secure a house, and he already met with his daughters future husband... and he also died knowing that he was well-loved and he left a family who also knew that they were loved..

seeing another person in the family made me realize that 'hey, life is fleeting' and there is only so much years left to make a difference, leave a dent, and have a legacy. my tito art was like that.. a man who made a difference in the workplace, a good example as a father and as a brother, and one who raised his children well and left with all of his brothers, sisters and pamangkins an image of someone to look up to and probably someone they could all be willing to follow.. :)