An 87th Birthday Celebration for Sr. Christobal!
by Raquel
(Tucson, Arizona, USA)
After my 86 year old father passed away last year, my mother and I met a man at the cemetery who would visit his wife's grave. She is buried next to my father's grave.
We invited the man, 86 year old Mr. Christobal to our family's home to become friends with the family and share his grief for his wife along with my mother's (and our) grief for my father.
Soon, he became like family and we opened our home to him and treated him like family.
He opened up more and more of his life and seemed to open up like a flower in bloom.
He seemed to fill the fatherly void we all had after dad passed away.
He shared that he had been so lonely and that "people just don't talk to 86 year old men."
When Mr. Christobal told us his 87th birthday was coming up on a Sunday, 9-27-09, we invited him to share Sunday Mass with the family (which happened to be a Special Mass for our beloved father who died a year before on 10-2-08) and thereafter we would take him to lunch to celebrate his birthday.
We were so accustomed to many celebrations in honor of our father: his birthday, his Saint's Day, Father's Day... that a small party in honor of Mr. Christobal's birthday was a natural thing to do.
He met us at the church with his best clothes on. He was excited to be there and join us. We took him to a special restaurant that brought out cake and a candle along with everyone singing "Happy Birthday."
We presented Mr. Christobal with a card from the family along with money. When he opened the card which began with "Every Day Is A Gift From God..." his eyes filled with tears and he became emotional and revealed that no one in his entire 87 years had ever done anything like what we did for him that day.
He said he had never received a birthday card, birthday party or a birthday gift. We were all stunned because it was such a small gesture, considering the numerous family celebrations we had had over the years!
What seemed like a "small gesture" to us was such a "huge gesture" to Mr. Christobal. We were so touched and he was obviously quite touched.
My family and I felt sooo good that day at how such a little showing of love and kindness for another human being on his special day (87 years of life that could very well be his last birthday) could make such a huge impact on that one human being.
Seeing the love and joy that he felt was so rewarding. I can only imagine how much joy and love Jesus must have felt at curing the sick, taking pity on a prostitute who was banned by society, at seeing her wash His feet with her hair...
It was a day that I will never forget. It made me think of the saying that I learned and loved so much as a child in Catholic School: "God is love, he who lives in love, lives in God and God lives in him!"
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