A sweet homecoming

After three months of struggle with lung cancer, my father finally joined his creator last Jan. 6th, 2012 at around 9:50pm at age 66. I call it a sweet homecoming. It is a sweet homecoming because he will be finally seeing his creator and savior. He will forever be in a place where there is no pain and sorrows only joys and laughters. He will be in Paradise.

Prior to papang's death, my cousin Pastor Noel paid him a visit and asked him about death and his relationship with Jesus. Then they prayed a prayer of repentance. He was receptive. He prayed along and asked for forgiveness and accepted Jesus as his personal savior. It was the best gift ever given to me and for him most specially.

His condition worsen; he was hospitalized on Jan. 1st. We stayed in the hospital for two days. We went home on Jan. 3rd, set up his oxygen and prepared his NGT meal. That is going to be our routine from then on... but not too long. He expired 3 days after. In the afternoon of Jan. 6th, my sister, Lalai sent me a text message informing me that papang had removed his NGT. I was so worried because without his NGT, we will be having a hard time feeding him and most specially, administering his morphine, his pain medication. I tried giving instructions through text but I wasn't content so I got out of our bed and went to my parents' house. There we tried to give him his morphine in liquid form. It was a slow process but papang was patiently cooperating, swallowing every drop of morphine mixed in water. Instead of heading home and going back to sleep to prepare for my shift in the evening, I decided to wait for my sister who's arriving from Dubai. She arrived around 6:30pm. She talked to my father and although papang can no longer talk, I can see that he's excited. After their short talk, we decided to eat. Around 8pm, I decided to go home to prepare for my 9pm shift. My siblings stayed in the other room while my mother was talking to our father. I was able to hear part of their conversations when I entered the room and gave my mother the paracetamol she was asking. I heard my mother saying "paeng, kapoy ka na, pahuway na, ok lang kami". I saw my father nodding.

Around 10:10pm, while I was in the office, I got a call from my sister. She said papang is gone, just 2 hours after mamang talked to him. I hurriedly called my husband up and went home. Then I saw him... lifeless. My family is weeping. It was the saddest time of our lives. I was expecting it to happen because of his condition and the signs we're seeing, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. Then I remember my prayer. I prayed to God that He will not allow papang to suffer for a long time and that if he's ready to go, then He can take him away from us. God answered my prayers. He gave papang enough time to think, reflect and repent and accept Jesus as his savior. He did not suffer for long.

It's sad to lose someone we dearly love but the dead must not be pitied as what others tend to say. It's a reality and it's a blessing. We will surely miss them and that's what makes it sad, but death has no victory. It's not the end, it's a beginning. A beginning of a beautiful and perfect life.