Here is the only begotten son…

Good morning!  I’d like to thank everyone for being here to celebrate the life of my mother.  For those that don’t know me, I’m Louie Saji Alfad Atangan, the youngest son of Nadira Kirsten Alfad Atangan.

I’d like to share with everyone a few of my fondest memories I have of my mother that shows how special she is to me.

Throughout my life, I don’t think I could ever do wrong in my mother’s eyes.  I was her baby…(as she would say) her ONE AND ONLY SON!  She was so proud and supportive of everything I did.  Take my singing for example, some may question my talent and think I sound like a screaming cat or dog as my wife would say…but not my mom!  She would dance and push me to showcase my gift of music. “ABRA ABRA CADABRA…I WANNA REACH OUT AND GRAB YA” (See I know she’s dancing right now as I sing for her)  To her, I sounded like her an ANGEL.

My mom also loved my friends.  She would display such care and motherly affection that she showed me throughout my life.  I remember one time my best friend Vince was viciously attacked by one of our cute little and loveable dogs “Judd”…The bite was about the size of a papercut, but that didn’t stop my mom from coming to Vince’s rescue.  She bandaged his whole arm and said…”Are you ok?  You want something to eat?”

Besides being the loving and proud mother to me, she was more importantly a dedicated and passionate servant of the Lord.  Ever since I was a little kid, my mother would always try to teach me the importance of Jesus Christ and his love.  But in high school and college, I was more interested in going out, being with my friends, and meeting girls.  Every Sunday, I would always receive a call from my mom to go to church.  And there were times, I would try to ignore her call and let the answering machine go on…But that didn’t stop my mom, she would leave 10 messages that would sound like…”HELLLLOOO…MY ONE AND ONLY SON.  IT’S SUNDAY TIME TO GO TO CHURCH.   WAAAKKKEEE UPPP…SSSOOONNN.  CHURCH IS AT 11!!!  WAKKKEE UPP!!!   SEE YOU THERE!!!   JESUS AND I LOVE YOU!!!”

And then, she figured out how to spread the message of the lord in a more efficient matter…TECHNOLOGY.  It went from calls everyday to emails everyday and then FACEBOOK everyday.  Any possible way to spread Jesus’s message, she found it!

I always appreciated my mom as a wonderful and loving mother, but it took me a very long time to appreciate my mother as a servant of the Lord.  Now, I see how blessed I am to have such great friends, who are always there for me…who mourn when I mourn…who treat me as if I was there own family.  I see how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family from New Jersey, San Francisco, Seattle, Canada, Maryland, Northern VA, Virginia Beach, and all over the world.  How blessed I am to have 3 wonderful sisters and 6 precious nieces!  How blessed I am to have the best wife that I strive to be a better man!  How blessed and proud I am to have a strong, loving father who showed his love and dedication to my mom everyday, especially these last 6 months when my mother first got sick…he spent every possible minute from sunrise to sunset by her side.  Lastly, I see how blessed I am to have the best mother I could ever ask for.

And the only reason I am so blessed to have all you in my life is because the Lord Jesus Christ!

So, though we are grieving because we have lost a beautiful and precious friend, relative, wife, and to me, mom, I know she is here with us today looking down from heaven and smiling.  She is with her God, peaceful….resting…..and happy.

On behalf on my family, we would like to express our deepest gratitude for being here today and celebrating the life of Nadira Kirsten Alfad Atangan, my mother.  Thank you!  I love you Mom!

Here is Leya’s eulogy…

I stand before you in the church where our beloved mother led us to worship, the sanctuary where my husband and I became one, and where our beautiful daughters Gianna and Lana were baptized. I stand here as my mother’s daughter, third in line of four, and the youngest daughter.  Our mother was also a loving wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, close friend to many of you before me, and a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I will share the little things I will miss about our mother.

Not many of you will ever know how special these little things are to me as I reminisce about my childhood. She would tightly braid my hair in pig tails everyday for school and only the teachers would know when my father attempted to fix our hair. She’d send us off with our personalized back packs decorated by her. And days when I was sick she would give me ginger ale and rub my belly to comfort me till I fell asleep. The miracle of Vicks vapor rub comes to mind greased beneath my nose and chest which she often used when we were sick. And every night while we were sleeping she’d check up on us to make sure we were okay. And some nights I’d pretend I was sleeping when I heard her softly praying over us. These things I’ll miss talking about with her but hold dear in my heart.

Now a mother, I realize I never really knew how important these little things were until I was blessed with my own children, her grandchildren. The day of their births brought great clarity about my mother and father I never truly had until the moment I held my own children. The bridge from my parents to me to their grandchildren brought great meaning of being a mother and a better understanding of who she was to my siblings and me.  And the moment my mother and father held my children in their arms these things became completely transparent to me. From that moment on, every new little thing became my children’s memory of her and who she was to them.

I will forever miss her smell, laughter, hugs, morning phone calls, personal letters, emails, and random gifts. Only those who received them understand what I mean. I will miss her organized parties that included the people she held dear for many years and those new friends she invited to family functions who felt they had known her for years. I will miss her stories about relatives both near and far, and her emphasis on the importance of staying near family. These are the little things I cherish and pass on to my own children.

Her journey in life is reflected in the people in this room and those gone before her – a true representation of the love she shared.  The influence and lasting impression of her life will forever live in me and those who hold her dear in their hearts. Your love, support, and prayers over the years, especially the last few months, bring great comfort to our family.  We are eternally grateful for you especially to our father who has shown an unbelievable love and devotion to our mother. Thank you.