By Atty. Howard Calleja
As we celebrate the Feast of All Saints Day, my family and I also remember all our loved ones that had gone ahead. Recently my parents and close relatives have gone ahead in quick succession. Every year on Oct 31 our little saint in Heaven … Our Family’s Angel … My dear Minty celebrates her anniversary in heaven. When we posted an obituary of her demise, we included lines from Kahlil Gibran’s poem: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.” How can these lines alleviate the pain of the parents who lost a beloved daughter? How can these lines soothe the sharp bitter pain felt by those who love Minty? In those moments of grief and loss of a loved one, no word can ever comfort grieving hearts. The heart gets numbed. All the person ever feels is the intense pain.
We accept life’s cycle that children bury their parents but not parents burying their children. Parents plan for their children’s lives and when the time comes, children will take their parent’s place. This is the accepted pattern of life. To reverse the pattern is not conforming to life’s natural process. This is what makes the pain intense.
I then realized that I was busy asking questions that I forgot the creator of life’s pattern. I intently prayed the “Lord’s Father” and when I came to the line” thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, I felt a lightness in my heart. The acceptance of “God’s will” erases the pain. God seemed to open my mind that all people die. To be alive means that someday life will end. Life can be predicted. A mother giving birth anticipates the coming of the baby on a certain day or week. But death …it comes without notice. Even the best doctor couldn’t say the exact time the last breath is expelled. Death will always be a mystery. The “whys” will remain unanswered. What will keep us going is our faith.
So, to remember our little saint and angel in heaven, I write each year a poem to celebrate her life with us. Here’s a poem my dear Minty as we remember you in this 11th Anniversary you got your heavenly wings:
Minuet a Love I cannot forget,
A short life now in heaven above.
I still remember your smile and cheers;
You’re my daughter I will always Love.
You brought life to our family;
A bond that showed what Love means.
For five years I held you in my arms;
But now I hold you tightly in my dreams.
11 years have passed away,
We missed many milestones in life.
At every age and stage I wonder;
What would life in heaven be like?
No words or time can take out my tears,
Years have gone but your love I never miss.
I dream of dancing with you again;
To hug you tight and give you a kiss.
Memory never ends when life ceases to be. Minty, you will continue to grow in our hearts. Minty, I know you are now happy with our heavenly Father. “The prayer of the heart is the source of all good, refreshing the heart as if it were a garden” (St. Gregory of Sinai, 1360). Please continue to watch over us our dear Minty. Papa loves you.
