Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the passing of my brother in law, Miguel. 365 days to the day when we saw him take his last breath and could not believe what was happening.
In the last year, since then, our family has lost my dad - Rafael, my wife’s aunt - Tia Onelia, my aunt - Tia Margot, my uncle - Tio Jovino and just least week, 10 days ago to be exact, my father in law - Miguel Humberto.
2 days shy of his 81st birthday and 10 days shy of the anniversary of losing Miguel.
They say that it comes in 3’s but for us it has been twice that. 6 people that we have known, loved and dearly miss.
The pain and sorrow on our family places a shroud over the joys of birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations and what would be otherwise joyous occasions.
Life continues for us with a numbness and a state of disbelief.
While we take some comfort in the thought that they are all celebrating with each other in Heaven and in the presence of God, the thought of us continuing to be covered by this shroud and wondering if we will ever be able to truly be happy again is painful.
With each death we experience directly or hear about over the phone, the pain of what we experienced a year ago comes back roaring but in a different way. We immediately think about that day and how it started a pattern of pain, grief and loss that we still have not been able to recover from. We were knocked down a year ago and every time we try to get up, we fall.
To my wonderful brother-in-law, along with my own father and now my father-in-law, whom we all miss dearly, may we get to laugh one day with all of you. I hope that all of us begin to feel more comforted by your place in heaven than by the lack of your presence here with us on earth.
I look forward to the day we are all together, playing dominoes.
