| This page is dedicated to our beloved Marie Joy P. Tulabing, who passed away at an early age of eight in February of 1997. |
| She was a beautiful child, full of promises and of hope. The one who gets good grades in school, the quiet one, the demure, the saver, the spendthrift, the wonderful voice, the artist, the one everybody loved, the pride and joy of her parents, of her brothers, of her cousins, of her aunts, of her uncles, of her friends, of her classmates, of her neighbors, of her teachers. She was everything, at least to us. Marie Joy's story started in January of 1989. She was the "replacement" for our grandfather Bernabie; for a couple of weeks before she was born, our grandfather passed away. Marie was the second child of three, and the only girl. She had a way of making everyone love her. She was her mom's hope and dream. She made everyone's day a wonderful one and somehow had a way of changing the lives of those she touched. And even in death, she reached out for my hand and completely changed my reality. Before her death, I paid no attention to what family truly meant. Everything important to me was having fun, going out to clubs, hanging out with friends, indulging in my own selfish moods, etc. However, her death shook me... it shook me inside and out. The realization that life is short entered into my selfish dimension and altered almost all my perceptions. I've been in pain before, but never like this. I truly believe that a loss of a child in a family is the most tragic one of all. Almost impossible to forget. I know this because up to this point in my life, I am still hurting for her death. I sympathize with my auntie Siony and I know that no matter how I try to comprehend her pain, I can never truly feel the depth of her sorrow. I can't even understand my own pain for my cousin's loss. |
 |
| click on the butterfly for Marie's song and her photos. |