Farewell, Jude

(My cousin and his wife)

As most of you already know, yesterday early Sunday morning, I received one of the worst and saddest call that I’ve ever had in my life. My cousin Jude (based in California), a 35 year old guy, had a heart attack and died within a few minutes. In the hospital where he was taken, they discovered that he had a huge blockage in his heart of a blood clotting called embolism (which can travel to any part of your body, from your lungs to the heart or to the brain). This disease apparently, is a silent-killer.

My cousin appeared to be all normal and healthy. He was very active and wanted to do everything from mountain climbing to swimming, from biking to hiking, kayaking, scuba diving. He loved the outdoors. Not only that, he had a good sense of humor – he was always the life of a party, a one-man act. He was also a handy man, he loved to tinker, to dismantle mechanical stuff inorder to learn how to put them together. His recent feat was when he was able to put together his car's engine/motor parts just by reading and asking those who know. Most importantly, Jude had a heart to serve. He was always ready to be of helping hand, especially to the elderly. Above all, he loved his family and he loved God. He was, in every sense, a good man.

Apart from coughing last two weeks ago, which the doctor thought to be asthma, he was not complaining about anything at all. So his demise came as a huge shock to all of us, especially to his wife and 11-yr old son.

Jude was one of the closest cousins to me. I still remember our heart to heart talks and moments when he came to me for advice. I would surely miss his calls on weeknights or during weekends when he would make me laugh so much just recalling about fun and good times at CFIF where we worked together. And I do remember him also sharing with my grief, him on the phone sobbing over the loss of my mother.

His untimely death will be felt greatly, not only by his wife and son, but by his mother and siblings in the Philippines (whom some of them he was financially supporting), his relatives, as well as by those who knew him as a friend and a co-worker.

To Jude – we love you and we are greatly saddened by your sudden passing away. You will be remembered fondly and missed terribly by all those whose paths you have crossed during your short journey here on earth.