Today marks the day my life was changed forever..Imagine being in the Navy stationed in Bahrain.....After a weekend of partying, its Monday Morning and I overslept...This was so unusual for me...Racing to the meeting, I was the last to arrive to Quarters on the flight deck of my ship....A few minutes later, my Chief called me out of our line up to follow him...Im thinking to myself, I was only a few minutes late.(As I am typing this, it feels like yesterday)....As I followed my Chief, I glanced over to one of my shipmates(the comedian of the crew), but he looked so serious...(I later found out that he was the one on duty and received the message in the middle of the night..) Within minutes, the Chief led me to the Chaplains office....Still with no clue I sat down assuming I am about to get written up for being late or as we said in the Navy Chewed out.....I can still see & feel the one tear that slowly rolled down my face as they told me my Mom died...It was the coldest, loneliest, numbest feeling of my whole life...Reality didnt set in until I started packing my things to fly back to NY...I had to stop and go into the break room....I sat on the floor, in the corner and cried for what felt like hours....Every few minutes I could see my shipmates peek through the window, but they just respected my moment.....The salt in the wound was I had just spoke to my mother a few days ago letting her know I could make it home for Thanksgiving, but I would be home for Christmas.....And Christmas was going to be so special because I had already picked out my mother gift(jewelry was cheap in Saudi Arabia..)....So I had all these plans to finally get my mom a quality gift...Even planned to take my mom out dancing and just show her how much I loved her and thanked her for loving me unconditionally...The flight from Bahrain to New York took forever....Long enough for me to be mad at God, listen to God and drink myself into denial that this was just a plot to get me home for thanksgiving.......When I arrived in NY, I caught a cab and so many memories raced through my mind on my ride from the Airport to 97st.......Walking up to my Grandmothers building, the projects seemed like a Ghost town....I knocked on the door and the eyes of my family were the confirmation I did not want.....I assumed the role of being the strong one for the family, I remember not crying at the wake until everyone walked out.....But when everyone was outside, I just stood at the door crying & looking at the casket of my mom, Milagros Del Valle(Miracle of the Valley)......... Moral: Maximize your quality time with the ones you love....DO NOT ALLOW minor, petty and selfish issues keep you disconnected.....Press through....LOVE NEVER FAILS.......You never know who will NOT be at the next Thanksgiving dinner....
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:09:48 +0000
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