the wake

The chapel was still quite empty when I arrived. His brother in law was the one who greeted me as his sister was busy attending to friends who has arrived earlier. This must have been the hundredth time he has told this story, how it all started with a throat infection, how he was rushed to the ER to get checked after vomiting, how his blood sugar sky rocket, his kidneys failed and in just a matter of 3 days after being confined, he was gone. 

It must all feel so surreal based on the blank stares in the room, people coming to grips to what happened. How someone who was just at the start of his life so suddenly was taken away. I asked if the parents were around and then ushered to the back room. Their family have been long friends of ours and I braced myself for the meeting. His mom was the first one I saw. She struggled to get up from the chair that she was sitting on and when she finally was able to stabilize herself, I gave her the longest hug I could muster. I whispered to her O Lord, O Lord, my pathetic cry to remind her that God is with us. She trembled in my arms for a moment and I wished at that moment i could take some of her pain away. I gave his father the same hug and offered my deepest condolences. We eventually left the back room to recieve guests who were beginning to trickle in. 

He looked peaceful in the casket, like he was just asleep, resting. If I werent even mistaken, there was a slight smile in his face, even tho i am sure he would have wished to have left in a better way. 

Rest well Wilmer. You were too young to go. Give strength to your family. They miss you terribly.