Pascual...



Lifetime

At that moment in time when two hearts were intertwined, a meandering spirit was given a chance at life. The spirit became a soul for it was given a purpose… to live… that soul was given a name… Pascual…

Pascual was nurtured and was taught how to live. But life so it seems, is not a bed of roses. It is a journey every soul has to undertake.

In order to live, Pascual has to immerse himself in the world of countless other souls. Each of which has their own story to tell. The world is already a daunting place as it is. Compounded by those differences, no matter how subtle these are… living in itself becomes more strenuous…

Thus he learned that to survive, he must learn how to compete. By thinking of life as a game of chance, he was soon caught in a maze, a labyrinth of entanglements where it is easy to become lost and be lost forever… The more time he stays off course, the lonelier life would become. Unless he finds his way out, life would take on darker a shade of gray…

But hope must never be lost… for every living soul is a child of the light and every life holds a promise that needs to be fulfilled.



Life and Love

And so Pascual fondly called “Aling”, found the love of his life… A steadfast suitor to an erstwhile snob young lass, “Betty”…

Aling showered her chocolates and kisses from afar. A consort to a princess… A king to a queen… He was by her side until her heart mellowed to his incessant courtship.

He knew that when you love someone, you give everything you got. Never thinking twice… Risking all no matter what…

Everything in life is temporary. Life in itself is temporary. He displayed true courage for it takes courage to love. Knowing it might end anytime... Having faith to make it last. That love lasted almost 40 years to this day…

What they had was a love that is easy to feel, so hard to explain… So easy to get, so hard to let go;
So easy to spell, so hard to define... They found love in each other’s arms, holding them at their weakest, Eyes that saw them at their ugliest, Lips that kissed in both instances, and a heart that loved each other at their worst…

On his last day and last breath, that love stayed true to the end… He passed on in the arms of the love of his life…



Family

When we feel that the world has turned its back on us...
When we feel our strength has deserted us and we are about to breakdown...
When we feel we are doomed to fail for we fear the worst is about to unfold...
When we feel we are losing ground, and we are slowly sinking...
When we feel life has become too taxing, we are losing the will to live...
When we feel that we are on a low and we're lacking the will to fight...
When we feel that things are not turning out the way we expect things to be...
When we feel defeat before the battle has even started...
When we feel that we're hanging by a thread which is about to snap in two...
When we feel we are becoming derelict and put in disregard...
When we feel our passion is on a downturn, we are losing interest in things...
When we feel fear, worry, distrust, vulnerability, indecisiveness and pain...
We must remember that we always have a home to turn to...
A home which will take away our pain, and console our wounded hearts...
A home who will fight our battles for us and lead us back on track...
A home who will always shower us with love, solace and comfort...
A home who by doing these, expects nothing in return...
A Family…

For a sacrifice is a measure of the depth of one’s love to a beloved, confidence in his beliefs and value to all the things he held dear... Papa “Aling” made plenty of sacrifices for the family so he could give us a home to go home to. He gave us a home that is full of love… He directed us to the future, we are now treading upon…. He instilled in us values, values we will pass on… Papa Aling was a good man, and a good father to us….

Papa Aling was our stalwart defender with a resolute will to nurture us into what we are today. I tell you his greatest success in life was his family. From our humble roots, he guided us into what we are today and even though there were times when we go astray, his steadfast love and never yielding trust was a beacon of hope and love for us to tread again to the right path. I myself have erred a lot of times in the past but never once have I been rebuked because of it, instead he consoled us and accepted me for what I am.

He showed us how to love, he showed to us the meaning of the word “family” in a way not even any dictionary can define. His world was his family and so were ours.  

Thank you so much Pa’… We love you so much… You will always be in our hearts forever…



Forever

You’ve always walked in front of me
And I have followed you earnestly
Wherever you’ve gone, so I’ve gone
Until the nether bounds of eternity

You showed me how to cry
Your humor made me smile
You gave me reason to believe
You taught me how to live

But time swiftly came to pass
I no longer walk behind your shadows
You have ended your journey
I will never be able to see your back anymore

I will now be taking my first step
For now you have gone home
I will walk in the memories
Where we used to roam
You are now lost in the wind
But still I must go on

Life is passing like a flower that blooms in the morning and fades away at noon as new buds grow forth to bloom in a new morning...

The realities of life the past generation had set in place has been passed on to us and for those who are next to us will stand as to where we are exactly standing. But life doesn't stop there for we still have to face eternity as a consequence of today, for tomorrow we will all be saying our goodbyes...

Papa has lived his life to the fullest, so that we his children may live...




Memories

Everyone of us would carry our moments with Pascual differently... the color, the shape, the feeling... They are all different… They are all unique…

But those stretch of moments are soon to become a memory. But we will remember, for it will balance us wholly from the head, to the heart... Our memories cannot be defined for they have already defined what we are.... Pascual “Aling” will forever be etched in our hearts… His memories will live as we continue on living…

We are a living essence of our soul. Wherever we go, whoever we touched, we leave behind bits and pieces of ourselves... an essence of our presence which in turn draw to ourselves essence of the places we had been into, people we immersed with as attachments are continuously being built over time…





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