thankful thursday: mama undo

I’m finding it a bit hard to think of something for Thankful Thursday today.

You see, the guardian/caregiver who looked after Hubby and his younger sisters for around 30 years passed away yesterday.

She had spent most of her life with their family, choosing to stay with them and love them rather than to get married and have her own children.
She treated the three of them as her own, taking the responsibility of raising them up and disciplining them well.
In their words, she was their mother more than their biological mother.

I guess this is a reason for me to be thankful.
 
I’m grateful at how she selflessly sacrificed her own happiness and dreams for Hubby and his sisters.
That she was the one who taught them the many things they needed in life.
That she raised all of them to be the sensible, responsible, and God-fearing persons they have become.

I am thankful for the life she lived…for the life God gave her…and for the opportunity to have had her in our lives.

Paalam, Mama Undo. Maraming salamat po sa lahat-lahat!

May your soul rest in peace.

gone too soon

It was all so sudden. Thursday afternoon, his wife had posted a picture on Facebook of him on a gurney; however, the caption sounded light so we didn’t think it was too serious. Thursday night, we found out he had a mild heart attack. On Friday, we were informed that he was at the Philippine Heart Centre. And then yesterday morning, we received the shocking and devastating news that he was gone.

He was one of Hubby’s original members in the Batch 23 of the SFC Christian Life Program back in 2006, and continued to be his member until we got married and he became a Unit Leader for another Chapter in SFC.

 

Our friendship with him and his then girlfriend (now wife) grew when our ET barkada was formed in 2007.

taken last January 2013

He became one of Caila’s godfathers when she was baptized.

taken during their wedding in 2009

He was also very active in the Kids for Christ ministry in Dubai, serving from the time they were still Singles. Like Hubby and me, they were Chapter Heads in the ministry.

He was only 34 years old.

They had just celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary last December.

He was still young and full of life. There were still so many things that he could have done and so many more lives that he could have touched.

But then God probably decided that he had already accomplished his mission on earth, so He called him back to heaven.…where he could always look over his wife, his loved ones, his friends, and his favorite ministry in the community.

We still needed him here, but heaven needed another angel.

Thank you for all the wonderful memories, Archie. We will surely miss you.

Rest peacefully in paradise.