Eleina
11-22-2006, 10:23 AM
Which way to Heaven?http://www.mb.com.ph/images/spacer.jpg
Words by Katherine L. Magsanoc
I REMEMBER THIS person I knew about five years ago. She had breast cancer and a 2-year-old baby. Even after two mastectomies, they found out that the cancer had metastasized to other parts of her body. There was no hope; she was dying.
I never really knew how she said goodbye to her daughter. All I knew was that she spent her remaining days arranging their family photo albums so that, someday, when her daughter looks through them, she’ll remember her mom clearly. She attached notes, explaining the pictures to her child, and notes with her own messages.
Today, if you ask her daughter, who’s about nine years old, where mommy is, she’ll quickly say, "She went to heaven where she’ll prepare my place. She said she’ll wait for me there."
Now that I’m also a parent, remembering what happened to this person I knew still stings my heart. My most ardent prayer always is that I’d live long enough to see my grandchildren.
But not all parents have that chance. Death is a fact of life we must all live with, whether we accept it or not.
A friend once said, "We start dying as soon as we are born," and sometimes I think he’s right. This is why we must seize the day; and, if circumstances require us to explain death or the loss of a loved-one to our children, we must be ready.
http://www.mb.com.ph/MOMS2006112279998.ht ml
Words by Katherine L. Magsanoc
I REMEMBER THIS person I knew about five years ago. She had breast cancer and a 2-year-old baby. Even after two mastectomies, they found out that the cancer had metastasized to other parts of her body. There was no hope; she was dying.
I never really knew how she said goodbye to her daughter. All I knew was that she spent her remaining days arranging their family photo albums so that, someday, when her daughter looks through them, she’ll remember her mom clearly. She attached notes, explaining the pictures to her child, and notes with her own messages.
Today, if you ask her daughter, who’s about nine years old, where mommy is, she’ll quickly say, "She went to heaven where she’ll prepare my place. She said she’ll wait for me there."
Now that I’m also a parent, remembering what happened to this person I knew still stings my heart. My most ardent prayer always is that I’d live long enough to see my grandchildren.
But not all parents have that chance. Death is a fact of life we must all live with, whether we accept it or not.
A friend once said, "We start dying as soon as we are born," and sometimes I think he’s right. This is why we must seize the day; and, if circumstances require us to explain death or the loss of a loved-one to our children, we must be ready.
http://www.mb.com.ph/MOMS2006112279998.ht ml