Little Flower
in this hour,
Show thy power

photo by Martin Arnaldo

Tita Cecile passed away last Friday at 11:56 PM from cardiac arrest. She was in the presence of her family and friends. The situation was intense, perhaps because of the hospital environment with all the sounds beeping and the machinery keeping her vital organs alive, but she transited in a peaceful way. Some of you got the text that she passed away a bit after 11 PM. That is the moment her heart stopped, around 11:20. But actual brain activity ceased at 11:56.

After her last rites were given, her loved ones were able to say their last words to her. Over the speaker phone she also heard her husband, Hermes, whom she hadn't seen in over 20 years, and Noni, her son who is the US. Noni cannot get back right away because he is still waiting for his US passport. He was just awarded US citizenship in October after two years of affidavits and papers and inauests. If he leaves without the new US passport, he will lose his US citizenship. He was encouraged by the family to wait for his passport before coming back to the Philippines.

The wake is at Arlington funeral homes on Araneta avenue. The funeral mass will be held on Wednesday at 8 AM. The burial is at 10AM at Loyola Memorial Park in Barangka, Marikina.

This is both a loss and a relief. It is a loss because a loved one passed away, but it is also a relief because of the pain she endured for the last five years is now over.

All the best,

Martin