Her Last Breath…
" What would you do if you were only given 24 hours to live in this world? " the emcee asked..i was taken aback..dat question has been d least dat i expected to be asked from d emcee…but needless to say, i have to answer it or else i’ll definitely look dumb in front of d whole audience..i couldnt remember d exact words dat came out of my mouth but i remembered answering.. "….well definitely on d first 8 of the 24 remaining hours of my life i will definitely eat every single thing dat i wanted to consume..u see..i dont want to die wid an empty stomach.." bwahahaha stupid eh? "…then next 8 hours will be spent to those people who marked my life like my friends and of course my family..and ultimately d last remaining 8 hours would be spent in d presence of god through prayers as i ask for his forgiveness and gratefulness for d wonderful life dat he has given me.." very PAGEANT-stated isnt it? well it was indeed some sort of a contest dat i joined 4 yrs ago where i answered that very question and though my first line seems so dumb but i guess it was dat answer which captured the attention of d judges and placed me under the 5 finalists..then eventually proclaimed d winner at d end of d show which still caught me dumbfounded even after i went home…hahaha July 23, 2006 saturday…i was at d shower getting ready for work when Aling pounded our bathroom door…she told me that i need to answer d phone because of a very important call..i asked her what it is all about and she told me it’s all about my grandmother..i got cold all over my body as i quickly finished and grabbed a towel..i hurriedly picked up d phone and i heard my sis at d end of d line.."now is d time..be here quickly.." without a word i immediately got dressed..my oder sis is picking me up shortly..in less dn 15 mins i was done and d car has arrived..we were beating d red lights all over d town just to get there as fast as we can..when we arrived i saw my relatives..all looking so gloomy and sad..we went inside d room..lola’s siblings were all there in prayer..i saw my lola lying on d bed with labored breathing…i asked and they replied.." lola has been given 24 hours to live..we’re just waiting for her now until she expires…" i couldnt quiet comprehend her words though she clearly stated everything to me..i cant remember every single detail dat happened from d time they delivered to me d news until d time dat my lola eventually died..but i was there..we were all there for her in her deathbed..i saw her in labored breathing, saw her seizures, her battle towards d very end of her life..i have seen so many deaths in d past wid my patients in d hospital but i didnt know how much it truly strike u when someone really related to u will pass away….d whole ordeal of seeing her until her very last moment was so heartbreaking…added to d fact dat we were reciting THE THREE BEAUTIFUL PRAYERS intended for the dying person makes it even more tearjerking..my lola was not d only one in dis battle..dis is also a battle 4 those who loved her to accept her death as a will of GOD..what made me happy in this very sad moment was d fact dat i didnt see her die gasping for breath and suffering..i saw her die peacefully as she took her one last breath after i wiped her mouth..then a tear fell..it was all dat i saw then later on she was confirmed dead in the afternoon of July 24, 2006..we were crying as expected…i didnt know how fast life can be gone in just a split of a second and how amazing life can be made after 9 months of conceiving..the priest told us during the homily..life is indeed full of contradictions..whenever there is right..there will always be wrong..bcoz as he said how will we know dat it is right when we dont even know what is wrong?or how can u say dat it is wrong when there is no such thing as right? also when there is morning..there will always be a night..and when there is beautiful there will always be ugly..and of course whenever there is LIFE..there will always be DEATH…Death in d Bible is said to be d completion of life…life will never be completed until one dies..as natural as d leaf dat falls into d ground..life will always have its own ending in d presence of death….dat made me understand d meaning of everything dat happened just dis time..now Lola Dulce has transcend into another world apart from what we have grown and she is now in d hands of GOD..this time we have to accept the reality dat she is gone..86 beautiful years has truly been a bliss..d only thing we can do is to give her prayers dat she needed and thank GOD for having lived wid such a wonderful person dat she has ever been..Lola may not have d luxury to say what she wanted to do wid d 24 hours remaining of her life but i know dat everything dat had happened to her until her last breath has been fulfilled..Lola is a very Family oriented person..d only thing dat makes her truly happy is to see every one of the people that she loved present on her side until her last breath…her wish has just been granted..Wherever she is now I know she is indeed very happy knowing dat she will always be in our memory even after she passed away and her legacy as a Loving and Dedicated daughter, mother, friend, sister and wife will never be forgotten…
August 2nd, 2006 at 9:05 pm
condolence tin. u know i lost my grandma too just last month. it was heartbreaking for me esp. that i wasn’t there for her… and it was totally unexpected. i got a chance to talk to her 2 days before she died. i had plans for her. i wanted to spend more time with her soon but it’s all too late. tin, i know its hard but we got to accept it and move on…and as what u’ve written on the blog, the best we can do right now is pray for them. that way, they could be happy and at peace.
August 4th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
condolence athena. some people say that when you’re surrounded by people dying in your work, it gets easier each day. but in reality, when it’s someone close to you that passes away, it doesn’t get any easier to accept. may your lola’s memories live on within your family.
August 4th, 2006 at 8:15 pm
Tricky, that answer. Hehe. If I were to answer that question in the same manner that you did, I’d find myself lost in the figures, until I turn blue, and my brainy sister shriek, ” You numbskull, 3 x 8 = 24!” Hehehe.
August 5th, 2006 at 9:27 am
yah menger, i dont even know wat’s playing on my mind dat time when i answered dat question wid matching those figures..i was just trying to make a very simple question quiet complicated using that tactic..good thing i did not get lost in those figures… HEHEHE
August 7th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
oh,teena,condolence…i know it’s really hard when someone close to us dies,it’s different when it’s just someone that u know but not really close to you…when my father died everything around me was just in slow motion,nothing seemed to register anymore…but life goes on and death is something we’ll all end up to…they don’t really leave us teen,they’re just making sure that they’ll be there to welcome us when it’s our time…*wink*