My mom was a very beautiful woman. And they say I look a lot like her too. We definitely have the same nose, cheeks, smile… In a lot of ways I am a mirror image of my mom. If I had to use one word to describe my mom it would be: selfless. And when I say selfless, I mean completely dead to self. All we really had was each other: my mom and her 4 children. She persevered through so much. She did not ask for much. She was happy as long as we were happy. My mom would sometimes make fun of herself in order to make us laugh because when we laughed, she also laughed. She taught us to laugh at our pain. All she wanted was for us to be happy and she did whatever she could in order to make that happen. She was so grateful for the people that God placed in our lives that became pretty much like family.

My mom taught me to not be so engrained in the pursuit of the finer things that I forget to appreciate the finest things in life. She did not have much and somehow she gave us so much. Everything I am and everything I hope to be I owe to God and my mother. I woke up everyday determined to make her proud. My mom had so much coming to her. God willing, I just needed like a couple more years. I’m twenty years old now and I never imagined that she would not be here to see me get married or have kids. My mom taught me how to love. Love is sacrifice. Love is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrong. And most importantly, Love is sharing your food with others no matter how hungry you are. My mom told me she loved me every single day and meant it every time.  I hope to someday love my wife as much as my mom loved me.

The day I was leaving for Singapore, she was hugging and kissing me like she would never see me again (as she always does) and I was like “mommy I will be back”.  Before I walked out she gave me this Our Daily Bread devotional that I have been reading throughout the year. I last spoke to my mom on Feb. 5 around 3am in Singapore (Feb. 4 1pm here) and her last words to me were “I love you too”, but the way she said it I could tell she was under a lot of discomfort. I felt for her and I prayed for her before going to bed. I woke up at 9am on Feb. 6 (7pm Feb. 5 here) and tried to call her four times but she did not answer. I feared the worst at that point because there was no way I would ever call my mom four times and she would not pick up, no matter where she was. I soon found out she had passed away. I later opened up the devotional for that day and it talked about blessings in disguise that can come in ways we least expect and we may still expect suffering when we are doing everything we think God expects of us.
 

God does not make mistakes. Everything happens for a reason. There is no way I could have been present when she passed away. I am not here today to mourn the death of my mother, but rather to celebrate the life of such a beautiful, selfless, loving, caring, and God-fearing woman. She lived such an amazing life in just 56 years. I promise to carry the torch of her life and to keep striving to make her proud in everything I do. The overwhelming support we have received is a testament to the amount of lives my mother impacted, even more so through the children she raised. On behalf of my family, I would like to thank everyone for the support, thoughts, and prayers during this time.

Mommy I can't believe I won't hear your voice calling me Molascoco. 

Mommy you were so patient and gentle to a fault.

Your strength was in your meekness.

You were there for everything, you were there. You loved us with everything you had. You lived for us your children.

It’s hard speaking of you in past tense. I never imagined you will go this soon.

We always talked about you being there at my wedding and we talked so many times of how you would take care of my children.

God had better plans for you my angel. He wanted you to rest. My angel. You woke up every morning before 6 to pray for us.

You left the sweetest voice mails and sent I love you text messages almost everyday, even when you knew we would be back home at night. I’m going to miss those calls, voicemails and text messages.

You were very generous with your hugs and kisses it was quite embarrassing.

Now I miss them. I wish I could get one more deep hug, one more mommy/daughter date to get our nails done, to go shopping, to have lunch.

You would cook and still wanted to wash the dishes, and do the laundry even when we were all grown.

You liked to sing and I am grateful for the time we sang together in the church choir. Now you'll be singing with the angels. 

You didn’t care for expensive things, you enjoyed the simple things like a good cup of tea, and a good book.

And your smile mommy, it lit up the room.

When I was upset you would tell me over and over again Molade you just have to forgive and forgive and forgive. 

You were the wind beneath my wings, you let me fly, my biggest cheerleader.

You were my home.

And your smile mommy, it lit up the room.

I love you and I miss you, it feels like a piece of my heart is missing.

Mommy you loved me. I’ll miss you my angel.

You left me a legacy of love and forgiveness and I pray I can make you and God proud.

Mommy shine like your favorite verse says:

“Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”
Isaiah 60:1

Your princess

‘Molade