Overcoming adversity

This blog post is appropriate to my life right now...

Someone integral to my family passed away yesterday afternoon. She was my dad's aunt. My dad's family was poor when they were growing up, and she basically made the effort to pay for him and his four brothers to to college and provided for his family throughout my dad's childhood. She was the most selfless, loving, benevolent person, and I wouldn't even be here without her.

It's a daunting thing, losing someone you love, and facing the fact that it happened is never easy. Yesterday was a crying day. I cried when I found out, I cried when we were praying for her, and I cried myself to sleep so much that my nose was bleeding (or maybe it was just really cold).

I've never experienced a death in the family before, so this was a tough pill to swallow. It made me realize a few things: death happens, and happens quickly, life is short, so we should treat everyone as if you will never see them again, and lastly, never eat fatty pork when you have high blood pressure. My great aunt died after a seizure from a stroke.

The last time I saw her was about five months ago. We were in the Philippines dropping her off to her house late at night, pulling slowly to the dark front lot. Her long walk from the van to the white metal gate was hauntingly ominous to me; an image I'll never forget. At first I thought it was because that was  the last time I'll ever see her that year. Now I realize that it was the last time I'll ever see her alive. I'll never forget everything she did for us, and there will always be a hole in my heart, but I'll make it through. As the saying goes: she's in a better place now.