Réquiem ætérnam

St. James ~ Ora Pro Nobis

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. 

Amen.

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of my father James. He was an excellent man, with all the faults that one can expect of a sweetly broken person. He was broken by sin, but raised up by a loving and gracious God. His faith journey was interesting but very authentic. It is hard to conceive that I have journeyed an entire year without him - such a foreign and surreal experience.

More than anything he enjoyed being a father and looked forward to seeing me become one as well. To our heartbreak that desire was left unfulfilled by about 10 hours. I have the fondest memories of time with him, and a childhood that was priceless. He was always placing others before himself, and in fact was disabled because of it. He taught me to love my family, the importance of loving my wife, and most importantly to love God. I will miss him dearly and pray that his soul will eventually ascend to Heaven. He suffered greatly, in the physical sense, while on earth and pray that his death was happy and that he will be united with God in Heaven and to that I end I ask St. Joseph to intercede on his behalf.

I also pray that I will become half the father that he was...

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