A Dedication to A Departed Friend
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“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”
– Traditional Irish Blessing
Today’s post is dedicated to our friend, Arch. Arch had been in a state of depression for a long time. Well, he decided to end his struggles in the physical world yesterday morning.
For months starting from May, my husband attempted to reach out to Arch. They were ex-colleagues. My husband tried to counsel him. Arch said that he understood what was said and promised that he would not do anything irrational. I even gave him a copy of my book, Self-Love Secrets.
But deep down inside, I knew that his brave smiles hid the sorrows that he had. We insisted that he come to our home everyday. And for a while, he did. It was nice to see him in good cheer. But gradually, when things got busy, he came by less and less. And then, one fine day, he decided not to keep in contact.
We searched for Arch in his favorite haunts. We searched the beach and staked out in places that he would usually go but to no avail. It was the few days before we received the dreaded phone call about his death.
Till now, we do not have complete details of his story. Save for bare details, he would keep silent. He declined help as much as he could. He did not want to trouble his friends. But what we did know was that he had found it hard to face how much he had fallen.
From having a prestigious job and a lovely home, he had lost everything. He ended up in debt. Arch also had no immediate family to turn to. He was practically alone. All these happened before we got early wind of his state. Our subsequent attempts to help him with work and finances were, unfortunately, not sufficient to help him cover his losses or timely enough to address his issues.
Arch was my husband’s friend but over the months, I would also end up chatting with him whenever he dropped by. He wanted to write an autobiography. He had dreams of inspiring others too but at the same time, he also knew that he had to first face his greatest enemy – his own darkness.
We are saddened by his final decision but as always, we have well wishes for him. My memories of him – creative, sincere, kind, generous and a willingness to lend a hand to others – remain.
Arch was a fighter pilot with a love for flying. Based on the quote below, I like to think of him as now having communion time….
“Pilots are a rare kind of human. They leave the ordinary surface of the word, to purify their soul in the sky, and they come down to earth, only after receiving the communion of the infinite.” ~Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra
Sending him loving kindness. May he rest in the eternity of love and peace.
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Evelyn Reply:
November 13th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Hello Hilary,
Thank you so much for dropping by.
It was all too sudden. I have been in state of shock and sadness.
We had been optimistic for a turnaround for there have been little miracles and encouraging news that happened along the way. He did not have a family to turn out and so we tried to be there for him for support. We had been hoping that Arch would hold on these and waited for time to pan out, to allow the miracles to fully manifest.
We saw hope but Arch could not see it. Understandably so as he was in depression. I now ask for divine love to dissolve the pain that he has been carrying in his soul.
With love,
Evelyn
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