Tuesday, January 11, 2011

My hero has fallen!


Dec. 12, 1948 - Jan. 5, 2011; A great life has fallen! A man that nurtured, transformed and made every single day of my life such a rewarding experience; a selfless, brilliant, light spoken and tender person, full of wisdom, committed to all he did, cared for all he met, shared everything he owned with everyone, would not hurt a fly nor let it hurt any of his, would take it all up to the Lord in prayer and thank Him for His faithfulness for everything. Yes, my hero, my dad is gone!
He gave up his seat to his juniors  and children, went hungry to provide for others, responded to rudeness and abuse only with soft words of advice and a smile, preached and believed in education and sacrificed his savings for it for his children, did not fight for his pension that was being usurped, checked and cared for the sick even in the most inconvenient hour of the night, suffered injustice but took it kindly, never asked for favors or privileges, showed respect and consideration to everyone and shared with others every bit he had even when at risk of perishing.  He was no cheater, never spoke roughly to my mom even one day, never got drunk, never fought with anyone, never bad mouthed anyone, never fought for power and glory nor sought praise and pride, never differentiated  the people he dealt with and never turned down any request he could grant.


Tandia A. Barnabas, 63 (R.I.P)
He is the person, whose unwoven support has taken me through the high corridors of education; who supported my Korean ambitions from day 1 and encouraged me to ride on; who celebrated every one of my academic achievements way more than I ever did and who accounted for everything in any project undertaken with him. He agonized over the woes of his country and believed education was the key - that with it one day its communities would be transformed and citizens pursue and attain the most precious of their dreams. He taught me how to hope; how to pursue it and how to transform it into results. He lived  through  it and died by it. He taught me the extraordinary lessons of sacrifice, patience, humility, love and respect.
My dad, the great teacher, the great citizen, the great father - none like him!
I’ll forever miss him! Far off, he’s wandered, yet will live in me every single day of my life.

Adieu, dad!