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Death and Other Blessings

We finally got back from our last family trip this summer.  We don't usually take summer trips.  Our summers are usually spent shuttling between home and summer classes.  We find it cheaper to just stay in the city.  We usually take trips during off-peak season.

This time it's quite different.  It has been a whirlwind experience since mid-May.  There was a trip to the province for a family reunion.  A weekend visit to Taipei for Vic and me and some in-laws.  You know, the vacation after the vacation.  It was then followed by my father's retirement party, which I semi-organized. Finally, a trip to Baguio before the kids go back to school.

All these trips are partially subsidized.  I don't know how we were able to wing it, but we just did.

No, this is not a humble brag post.  I just realized that we had help.

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Last February, I lost one of my sisters-in-law due to uncontrolled diabetes and its complications.  She left behind her husband and two young children.  One of our visitors at the wake mentioned that we should ask her to intercede for us.

I didn't know that our dead can do that for us.  I just usually pray for their eternal repose.  But, since then, I've asked our departed loved ones to pray for us and our intentions.  Suddenly, I realized that blessings and opportunities have come aplenty.  There was a realization of a dream, a job opportunity, financial blessings apart from the blessing of life itself.

Yes, the sorrow is there.  But, they give us reasons to be happy and thankful too.

If you haven't been praying to your departed loved ones to intercede for you, there is no harm in starting now.  They're just one step away from God, after all.

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