My young cousin Duane Andre Sandiford-Gayle was larger than life. Duane tragically passed away on the 24th November 2014 in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic while on holiday with friends. Duane was buried in Toronto, Canada just over a week ago. His memory and his life were celebrated by many friends, colleagues and family members. The Toronto families played hosts to guests who converged from various parts of Canada and as far afield as Birmingham and London in the United Kingdom, Kingston in Jamaica, Bogota in Colombia also New York, New Jersey and Florida in the United States. Most of the visiting families have now dispersed to their own homes to continue with normal lives, wherever home may be. There remains just two of us as visitors, my younger sister Jacqui and me. It is freezing here, ranging between minus 2 and minus 8 degrees but the temperature for our family is a lot colder since Duane’s passing. The shock of Duane’s passing is still being felt by many family members and friends, who are still trying to surface from the nightmare. My little cousin slipped into memory, leaving us all with heavy hearts. It was sad that he passed away in a country which was not his home, away from friends and family and with no words of comfort heard in his own tongue. In his infinite mercy, wisdom and goodness, I hope God allows souls who depart this realm, to form bonds of friendship while passing, so that no-one is truly alone in their final moments. It would also be comforting to think that words spoken in those final moments are instantly understood, as it was before Babel; when all spoke in the same tongue. Duane, you were big of heart, humour and kindness, willing to do anything for others and the most loyal to your family and friends. God will bless you for that. You will be sadly missed. You were called away much too soon. There will be a place reserved for you at the Family Re-union in London/Birmingham in 2016 Rest in Peace Duane Andre Sandiford-Gayle 4th December 1980 – 24th November 2014
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 05:42:46 +0000
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