In the Company of Angels
It was fortuitous that the day that you passed away I was there beside you. The night prior, I decided to sleep at the Hospice’s pull away cot to be near you. At 2 am I became aware of your heavy, raspy breathing and I called the nurse. When I was alone beside you I cried, “Tosh, Tosh, I am here okay?” You tried to answer my calls with a labored — “hmmm....hmmm” a strangled signal to me that you understood what I just said.
At 5 am, I got up from the cot and I told you, “Tosh, I have to leave for awhile to check on our daughter and Ozzie (cat). I promised you I will be back in an hour.” Covered by darkness, I left the hospice hurriedly. When I got home, I quickly bathed, changed my clothes, fed Ozzie, and looked in on our daughter. Then I was back at your side. As I promised, I was gone only for an hour.
By this time, you have not opened your eyes since the day before when your condition took a turn for the worst. But because you gave me a signal a few hours earlier, I believed you knew I was there. I told you that I will start praying the Rosary. I completed 3 sets of all 3 mysteries in 3 hours. I could not stop praying. I was holding your hand, squeezing it while I pray.
“Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. And bring all souls to heaven specially those who are most in need of thy mercy.”
A few minutes before 9 am, your daughter Yama called. I told her, “you need to talk to your dad now. I will have the phone close to his ear.” Yama told you she loves you and that she was on her way to see you. Within a few minutes, your head stopped bobbing up and down as you gasped for each breath to live. I called the nurse and using a stethoscope, she detected a faint ebbing of your beating heart until it stopped. You were gone.
But in that final moment, when our earthly embrace was broken, you were in the company of angels carried by the wings of love.
At 5 am, I got up from the cot and I told you, “Tosh, I have to leave for awhile to check on our daughter and Ozzie (cat). I promised you I will be back in an hour.” Covered by darkness, I left the hospice hurriedly. When I got home, I quickly bathed, changed my clothes, fed Ozzie, and looked in on our daughter. Then I was back at your side. As I promised, I was gone only for an hour.
By this time, you have not opened your eyes since the day before when your condition took a turn for the worst. But because you gave me a signal a few hours earlier, I believed you knew I was there. I told you that I will start praying the Rosary. I completed 3 sets of all 3 mysteries in 3 hours. I could not stop praying. I was holding your hand, squeezing it while I pray.
“Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. And bring all souls to heaven specially those who are most in need of thy mercy.”
A few minutes before 9 am, your daughter Yama called. I told her, “you need to talk to your dad now. I will have the phone close to his ear.” Yama told you she loves you and that she was on her way to see you. Within a few minutes, your head stopped bobbing up and down as you gasped for each breath to live. I called the nurse and using a stethoscope, she detected a faint ebbing of your beating heart until it stopped. You were gone.
But in that final moment, when our earthly embrace was broken, you were in the company of angels carried by the wings of love.