2014 was a year like no other year in the history of our family. There were events several years ago where we had two weddings some months apart and multiple high school graduations in June. But this year was extra special.
To begin, let us step-back to the last couple of months of 2013. My mother and father had the opportunity to visit the Philippines. Not only visit familiar places (like where we used to live, etc.) but also back to the place where my father grew up. We never had that opportunity to bring our parents to those places when we lived in the Philippines. My parents came back in high spirits having seen those places and met relatives and even my father’s elementary school classmate.
My father experienced chronic fever and chilling spells upon their return. After several test early in the year (2014), he was diagnosed to have lymphoma that are cancerous. He was scheduled to get chemo treatment quickly. At the end of his first chemo treatment, he had seizures and went unconscious for over 10 hours. He recovered from that episode and showed signs of improvement. Although there was never a final diagnosis what caused the seizures, we were led to believe that cancer cells has reached my father’s brain. He was brought to palliative care after that. He died peacefully on early morning of April 12, 2014.
Before my father died, he became a great-grandfather!. My niece gave birth to her first-born the month before my father died. He was able to held on to baby Claire – the new addition our family tree in one of the visit to the hospice. It was a joyous time for my parents to have experienced this time.
My father’s funeral service was a reunion of some-sort and a celebration of the lives of people he touched not only in the Philippines but also here in Canada. It was sad but also a happy occassion especially during the wake when friends and relative came to show their support. The few days I spent with him during his hospital confinement were precious memories.
Few months later, it was another kind of reunion. Actually, it was a union! Another branch started in our family tree. My daughter got married in the summer. Our house was host to all my brothers (and my brother-in-law) and their families. My son-in-law proposed to my daughter the summer of 2013 on the top of CN Towers – Canada’s tallest structure. Everybody had a great time at the wedding reception, good food, and a lot of dancing.
The year went by quickly but the memories we have experienced in 2014 will continue to remain in our hearts and in our minds. Segue to “Turn, turn, turn” by The Birds. Any reader 50 years or older would know that song. It is a play on Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time for everything. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to mourn, a time to dance. God has made everything beautiful in its time. And He has set eternity in the human heart. (Ecc 3:1, 2, 4, 11)