Thank you all for coming her today to help us say goodbye to our beloved father.

Let me first quote a verse from the holy bible in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 and I quote
“1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2
a time to be born, and a time to die;; 3 a time to break down, and a time to build
up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a
time to gather stones together;; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;; 7 a time to
keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate;. 9 What
gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has
given to the sons of men to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in
its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out
what God has done from the beginning to the end”.

I remember my father used to love to go hunting when we were young, he likes

food and cook’s a lot. He was fond of church, and a devout Christian. Our father
was a man that was kind and generous. He loved all of us with such joy and
pride that it lit up his face every time we were together. He is a man who made
sure that his family was taken care of even if it meant he had to sacrifice
something important to him.
He was a serious and disciplined man, but he could never resist the opportunity
to have a laugh with friends and loved ones, given half the chance. Some of you
may not have known my father the way that we did, but for those who did not get
to see this side of him missed out on knowing a great man.

There are not enough words to express the wonderful influence he has had on
me and my siblings. He taught us to work hard in order to achieve goals. He
taught us the value of hard work, and of having an education. More than that, my
father taught us the importance of respect, and of knowing one’s self worth and
about loving one another.

As for his life with NANAY, he set a shining example of the kind of unconditional
love required to see a marriage through good times and bad.

As we all gather today, instead of me telling you of my memories, let us all take a
brief moment to reflect on our own personal memories with my father.

*moment of silence*

In Timothy 4:6-8 6 “For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of
my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I
have kept the faith”
 “Miss Me But Let Me Go” This is how I feel my father would want us to grieve.
He would not want us to all cry for months, but instead would want for us to let
him to go. He would want for us to be kind to one another, and to be there for
each other, and to continue on our own journey.

I’d now like to close with a poem entitled;

Our Father Kept A Garden

Our Father kept a garden.

A garden of the heart;
He planted all the good things,
That gave our lives their start.

He turned us to the sunshine,

And encouraged us to dream:
Fostering and nurturing
The seeds of self-esteem.

And when the winds and rain came,

He protected us enough;
But not too much because he knew
We would stand up strong and tough.

His constant good example,

Always taught us right from wrong;
Markers for our pathway that will last
a lifetime long.

We are our Fathers garden,

We are his legacy.
Thank you and we love you.

Again thank you to our family and friends for your support.

To our papang Diego we will miss you and we love you...

What Makes A Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

When there was nothing more to add,

He knew His masterpiece was complete,

And so, He called it ... "DAD!"

Author Unknown