MEComposing

Over a decade ago, I brought along my kid sister to my then-bf's house. His Mom was too enthusiastic with her "hello" that my sister was alarmed and upset. She cried. She must have been nine or ten years old.

Last Saturday, the same woman made my son cry with her enthusiastic greeting. My son cried.

And it's really weird because it's not like she had a booming voice. She's actually very soft-spoken and lovely, very warm and gracious. And it is that grace that amazes me because she was all smiles and good manners when we saw her last Saturday. It was her husband's wake.

She lost her eldest child just last year.

So when my ex informed me that his Dad died, I immediately thought of her. Worried about her. Because she was a Mom I really hoped to be like. And despite these tragedies, she managed to remain luminous in her gentle presence... that I got comforted instead of doing the comforting.

Help me pray for the wife left behind by Gerardo Belen.