I was 26 when you died and
Today marks 26 years since.
It's surreal. Almost unbelievable.
Half my life with you and half my life without you?
Oh, how I love you.
Oh, how I miss you.
Oh, how grateful I am
To have known you.
In all this time,
I have never once forgotten...
Your love and your friendship
Your warmth and your comforting hug.
Your smile and your kind words
Your decency, your simple wisdom, and
Most of all,
Your devotion.
How could I ever forget
Your laps around the yard
Walking amidst the trees and the
Statues of St. Anthony and the Blessed Mother.
In solitude with your mother's rosary beads,
Teaching me how to pray,
Showing me how to seek refuge in the Mother of God,
Enlivening in me a devotion to the Theotokos.
Even then, I knew I didn't have to thank you.
It was clear I never had to repay you.
All I had to do was listen to God,
And to be what He made me to be.
Because of that love and in that peace
I took what you gave me and have tried
With all my might and throughout my life
To care for others as you cared for me.
Even in the many ways I have failed at that task,
I have never stopped trying and serving.
And praying...
And praying.
In the end, I guess that was your greatest gift to me
During that short time I knew you on this earth.
You taught me that God is love.
You exuded that love and I love you for it.
So, if God should give me another 26 years,
I ask you to keep praying for me.
And with all love, humility, and respect,
I will continue to beg the intercession of the Theotokos,
The forgiveness of Her Son, and
The sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
A mosaic closeup of the icon of the Protection of the Mother of God.