... after dad died, that is.

Having five blogs and joining memes here and there, I already forgot which blog I read it, but Rose (aka Chubskulit) has invited me to join her meme, and since I found it great to go back in time once in a while, I decided to join in, using this blog, of course - as this theme will always be personal to me.

I am a person who sometimes love doing this thematically, so for the month of June, I'm going to talk about "firsts..."




March 2007 was the time my dad died. It was a very sudden death that surprised all of us, but no one really questioned his fate - as sad as we were, we accepted it and believed that the Lord has a reason for taking the head of the family that soon. He was only 60 years old.

Although he wasn't the first one in the close neighborhood friends to die, our close family friend and next door neighbors (the Raboys) certainly got sad and was a bit worried about how we could handle the future without dad. I guess them losing the head of the family a few years before has made them understood how we were feeling, and to cope up with the loss and to somehow give our minds a change of environment, they organized a neighborhood summer outing. It was also the first time all of us went to a resort just to enjoy summer... and at one point, we wondered, will we ever get to do this if the family was still complete? Guess not. Truly, losing something would always mean gaining something, too.

This summer outing has been an annual tradition for the close neighborhood friends since then. I am happy that they all were by our sides the day we lost dad, and up until now, we are still looking out for each other. It's really great when your friends have become a part of the family as well.

Thanks, Chubskulit for the invite! I love your meme!

*** Jenn ***