The dawn of afterlife had finally come and the doors of the hereafter opened to a suffering friend and neighbor---Elizabeth Pasia Quinto, a mother clothed with strength and honor---as she now passed the heavy portals of death. When my daughter announced to us of her passing, the words of the legendary Socrates echo: “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.” And the lessons I taught the last two Sundays about the parts of our eternal existence and the glories of life after death, resonate.
Indeed, to our dear family friend Ely, as she is fondly called, and the Quinto family her final departure from this mortal life to her final rest beyond the veil was such a great blessing of relief from pains and sufferings as a cancer patient and the family’s agonizing and distressing view of a dearly beloved. While her demise may have been a sorrowful farewell to a loving mother and wife a few days before the Mother’s Day Celebration, yet her journey to an endless end is remarkably joyful. It is promised, “God shall wipe away all tears from [her] eyes; there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” [She] that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be [her] God and [she] shall be my [daughter]. (Revelation 21:4,7).”
We were neighbors of more or less 23 years at the Canlanipa Homes. We were married the same year---1974. Our eldest children were born the same year---1975. Her six children and our five kids had grown up together; some had to be classmates in school. We have not had a closest association as we both parents are preoccupied with raising and rearing our progenies, who during those times were in the age of vulnerability. However, being very close neighbors we knew and understood each other and our family challenges. Her husband Hernan and I have one common unknown affliction of many years; hence we sometimes shared each other’s way of dealing with our travails.
Indeed, to our dear family friend Ely, as she is fondly called, and the Quinto family her final departure from this mortal life to her final rest beyond the veil was such a great blessing of relief from pains and sufferings as a cancer patient and the family’s agonizing and distressing view of a dearly beloved. While her demise may have been a sorrowful farewell to a loving mother and wife a few days before the Mother’s Day Celebration, yet her journey to an endless end is remarkably joyful. It is promised, “God shall wipe away all tears from [her] eyes; there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” [She] that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be [her] God and [she] shall be my [daughter]. (Revelation 21:4,7).”
We were neighbors of more or less 23 years at the Canlanipa Homes. We were married the same year---1974. Our eldest children were born the same year---1975. Her six children and our five kids had grown up together; some had to be classmates in school. We have not had a closest association as we both parents are preoccupied with raising and rearing our progenies, who during those times were in the age of vulnerability. However, being very close neighbors we knew and understood each other and our family challenges. Her husband Hernan and I have one common unknown affliction of many years; hence we sometimes shared each other’s way of dealing with our travails.
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| With husband Hernan and daughter Mutya |
I knew Ely as an exemplary wife and mother. Her sweet smiles each time we met showed no pretense notwithstanding the weight of her immense spousal and maternal responsibilities of raising four boys and two girls and caring for an afflicted husband. Her motherhood of her sometimes unruly children, as are common to many families, reverberate King Solomon’s description of a woman, “Strength and honour are her clothing;” and her positivity over the future of her children deserved the promise, “and she shall rejoice in time to come. (Proverbs 31:25).” She is the kind of a mother who willingly bore the heavy burdens of nurturing her children to their potentials and who bears with them in their weaknesses and frailties. Her happy countenance past the shadows of despair reflects her understanding of motherhood as a role most essential in time and eternity.
In 2006, she was diagnosed as having a breast cancer and a very delicate surgical procedure was performed to remove one of her breast. She survived.
Time flies fast and we found ourselves among the elderly in the neighborhood, retired and physically drained and fragile. Our children are now grownups. Surprisingly, her enduring motherhood eventually yielded unexpected dividends as to fulfill the promised joy and gladness. The prodigals had come to themselves and returned back to where their mother led them to be. Four were already married, the eldest a single father and a daughter remained single. Four are now gainfully employed abroad. Her diligent mothering paid off and her joy must have been to its highest as she envisioned an abundant life for her children’s families. Indeed, “There are few things more powerful than the prayer of a righteous mother. (Boyd K. Packer).”
In 2006, she was diagnosed as having a breast cancer and a very delicate surgical procedure was performed to remove one of her breast. She survived.
Time flies fast and we found ourselves among the elderly in the neighborhood, retired and physically drained and fragile. Our children are now grownups. Surprisingly, her enduring motherhood eventually yielded unexpected dividends as to fulfill the promised joy and gladness. The prodigals had come to themselves and returned back to where their mother led them to be. Four were already married, the eldest a single father and a daughter remained single. Four are now gainfully employed abroad. Her diligent mothering paid off and her joy must have been to its highest as she envisioned an abundant life for her children’s families. Indeed, “There are few things more powerful than the prayer of a righteous mother. (Boyd K. Packer).”
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| Four of her children |
However, nine years since her first breast surgery a relapse of her cancer resulted in complications to the bones and lungs. Soon enough in 2015 I learned that Ely had undergone another difficult surgery. While resources may have been available for her to avail of the best medical remedies, yet old age provided little or no physical tolerance. Her daughter Mutya and Hernan revealed that throughout her ordeal she never complained of too much pain except for short of breath. But her husband told me that even in an air-conditioned room she perspired and felt hot. Although I had not been a witness of her physical suffering, but I am of the belief that it was debilitating and painful as I am reminded of my elder sister who also suffered excruciating pain and eventually died of breast cancer. Ely must have held on to her staying power and great fortitude as to defy and hide her agony and pain from her loved ones for them to shy away from possible terrible worries and stressing concern of her.
Once, while I and my wife were across the street of our home, she and her husband on their car passed by and she flashed for us her usual sweet smile as though nothing serious was happening in her life. Such was my last living view of a mother clothed with strength and honor even my friend and neighbor Ely.
Hernan told me that the night when she was brought to the hospital he did not go with the ambulance but followed later. On his way to finding the hospital room, he was kind of lost, but as soon as he opened the door he saw Ely staring at him. That was to him the last look from her most beloved wife; a gaze for a saddest but loving goodbye after 43 years of a happy and enduring marriage. As Hernan held her tight, life yielded up in submission to the call from her Maker forward into a glorious rest in a place prepared for the righteous. It proved to be their last most loving grip.
Of her passing as a longtime friend and neighbor, memory conveyed the wondrous words of the poet Karen Lynn Davidson:
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
Sunday the 13th of May 2017 will soon come and the whole world will be celebrating mother’s Day. Her children will no longer have the opportunity to greet and embrace her physically on this most celebrated day for mothers. Yet most probably to Ely it was such a glorious time for her to have all six of them in physical lively interaction a few days before she finally leaves this frail existence.
While Hernan, Aris, Hiyas, Mutya, Tyron, RJ and Gringgo and relatives and friends are mourning the bereavement of Ely, many are cheering to welcome her behind the veil. Thomas S. Monson assured: “I am certain that the Lord, who notes the fall of a sparrow, looks with compassion upon those who have been called upon to part, even temporarily, from their precious children [and husbands].”
To the Quinto family I express our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences on this their hours of bereavement!
Once, while I and my wife were across the street of our home, she and her husband on their car passed by and she flashed for us her usual sweet smile as though nothing serious was happening in her life. Such was my last living view of a mother clothed with strength and honor even my friend and neighbor Ely.
Hernan told me that the night when she was brought to the hospital he did not go with the ambulance but followed later. On his way to finding the hospital room, he was kind of lost, but as soon as he opened the door he saw Ely staring at him. That was to him the last look from her most beloved wife; a gaze for a saddest but loving goodbye after 43 years of a happy and enduring marriage. As Hernan held her tight, life yielded up in submission to the call from her Maker forward into a glorious rest in a place prepared for the righteous. It proved to be their last most loving grip.
Of her passing as a longtime friend and neighbor, memory conveyed the wondrous words of the poet Karen Lynn Davidson:
When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory,
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.
Sunday the 13th of May 2017 will soon come and the whole world will be celebrating mother’s Day. Her children will no longer have the opportunity to greet and embrace her physically on this most celebrated day for mothers. Yet most probably to Ely it was such a glorious time for her to have all six of them in physical lively interaction a few days before she finally leaves this frail existence.
While Hernan, Aris, Hiyas, Mutya, Tyron, RJ and Gringgo and relatives and friends are mourning the bereavement of Ely, many are cheering to welcome her behind the veil. Thomas S. Monson assured: “I am certain that the Lord, who notes the fall of a sparrow, looks with compassion upon those who have been called upon to part, even temporarily, from their precious children [and husbands].”
To the Quinto family I express our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences on this their hours of bereavement!
