I am a Daughter, I am a Niece

“When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
--- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet ---

 I miss my mommy everyday since she passed away last December.  But even with her gone, I have never stopped being a daughter.   Death ends a life but it does not end a relationship,   Though sometimes, I wonder if  I could have done something different, would she still be here with me? In my prayers, God tells me that there is a reason and a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).  My God knows best and I rely on Him all the time.   

And just as I got used to the idea of my mommy being gone, just when I think it's reconciled and accepted, another loss points it out to me again, and it just hits me all over again.  My dear Tito Danny finally went home to our Creator after his bout with the big "C".  We wanted him to stay yet  we prayed for him to peacefully go and be free of all the pain and suffering.  His fight was not in vain.  He left everyone with a remembrance of gallantry.  He was brave in his battle and I am sure that he left, bringing with him our love, the same love that will keep him alive even after he's gone.

I remember Tito Danny with that smile under his mustache.  People say he looked like Tom Selleck, but for me, he was my fun-loving uncle who was always ready to please everyone.  "Yes" could be his other nickname, but he was fine with just "Danny".  I want to remember him as the uncle who was always proud of me, the one who assured me that I was a good person even when, sometimes, I felt I was not being one.  He used to introduce me as his "brayt pag-umangkon" which embarrassed me, knowing how I got a 3.0 in Calculus or how I repeated my Organic Chemistry.  There, I spilled it!  Not really 'brayt' huh?  Oh well, he will never know now.  

I will miss Tito Danny, but for now, I say, "Farewell, my beloved Tito.   I will forever remain your niece, just as Rhazel, Ethel, Ana Lisa, and Darrel remain your children and Tita Edith your beloved wife, just as Tita Clavel, Tita Dia, Tita Julie and Tita Ophelia remain your sisters, and Tito Dodo and Tito Edgar remain your brothers.  We send with you our love.  And when you see my mommy Fe and my sis Sybil in heaven, please give them a big, big hug for me."

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd."

--- William Shakespeare, Hamlet ---

Twinkle for me tonight!  I love you, my Tito Danny.