Putting Out the Lamp

December 17, 2008 is supposed to be a good day. I woke up to greet my mom a ‘Happy Birthday’. My sisters were also having their Christmas Party in school. It was a promising day, until…

“What a wrong timing…”, my mom said.

She was the first one who greeted me with so much remorse.

“Your grandfather is gone. He died just this morning.”, she added.

I felt sad when I heard it. My grandfather died on my mom’s birthday. I wonder what she was feeling. She didn’t tell the rest of my family that it was her birthday.

My whole family is really sad. There was no happy face today. We all know that my grandfather was sick with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but it was not the cause of his death. Rather, it was due to pneumonia.

I miss my grandfather. My sisters and I call him “Lolo”. He was a kind man. Lolo would always take chances in raffle promos in the town plaza. And when he won, he would give the prize money to me and Krichelle.

However, we got separated from him when we had to move to another house.

I am sad. Yesterday, I went to the hospital to do an errand for my mother. My grandmother, Uncle Wilson, Nonoy Jr, and Borjok were there. They were taking care of Lolo. I saw him lying down and suffering because he couldn’t breathe. His phlegm was clogging his lungs. And the only way to remove it is through suction.

I greeted and kissed my Uncle and grandmother. Hey, you didn’t kiss your Lolo. It was a voice from inside my head. But I didn’t listen to it. “I will be back here in the hospital on Thursday. I can just kiss him then.”, I thought.

So now, I regret for not having kissed my Lolo yesterday. I didn’t know that it was my last chance to do so. Why did I stop myself from showing Lolo that I love him? Now, it’s too late, I cannot kiss my Lolo anymore.

But I know that Lolo will be sad if he will see me cry. So, I dedicate this article to him.

“I love you, Lolo. I know that you are in Heaven now.”

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“Death is not extinguishing the light. It is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” –taken from http://www.famousinspiringquotes.com/author/Rabindranath_Tagore/