I wanted to share my dad's eulogy from his dad's wake service. As with my eulogy, this mode of documentation is not necessarily to broadcast on the internet for wide distribution, but rather to be a record of what a great influence my grandfather had on his family. I pray that my impact on my children and their children will be even a fraction of how much appachen impacted us.
Remembering our beloved Achayan
I remember my grandmother telling me that when my brother
was born, her brother’s family came to visit and exclaimed how handsome the
baby was. I did not think much of it then other than may be feeling a little jealousy
within me. But the other day my
youngest brother-in-law stated that my father was photogenic. I never thought
of it like that. Now I know why my brother was so handsome and my sisters are so beautiful.
Look at him, look at the pictures of him, he is indeed handsome... and my
mother is beautiful too.
We praise God for the divine grace that was present in the
life of our beloved father.
The presence of you all as we bid farewell to him enriches
that dear life further.
Even though, for the last few months he had to suffer much
pain from the effects of prostate cancer and had to be hospitalized on several
occasions, in the end, he was able to rest in the house for a week and enjoy
the presence of all children and grandchildren.
God also enabled all of us to be with our father during this time and be
on his side.
On Friday, February 22 around 11:30 am Rev. Daniel Thomas
and Rev. Biju P. Simon of the Chicago Mar Thoma church along with our friend
Kunju (Mr. Iype George) and Susy visited Achayan in the home and prayed and
afterwards all children gathered around and sang his favorite Malayalam song
and during that time he started his journey to the heavenly place. We praise
God for providing such a glorious experience to Achayan and us.
A few hours after receiving this news, our beloved uncle
T.A. George (our mother’s eldest brother) also went to heaven in Kadammanitta,
Kerala. Our father and our uncle lived in the same place (next door to each
other) for almost 65 years. In Kadammanitta,
friends and neighbors and the community are mourning for both of them and newspapers
and posters are reporting both deaths.
We express our sincere thanks to all relatives, friends and
fellow believers who visited achayan in hospitals, nursing home and our home and
provided fellowship and support to achayan and us.
I 'd like us to sing a few of achayan’s favorite Malayalam
songs and the ones that reflect our strong hope that we will meet him on that
beautiful shore when Christ comes again.
“Diviamayulla manavarae, Devam namukkai orrukkidunnu“
(God prepares a divine bridal chamber for us)
“Than kaikal kannuneer thudakkum
santhapangal pariharikkum
Lokathe neethiyil bharikkum
Soka pperumakal nasikkum”
(His hand will wipe away all tears, remove all sorrows, rule the world justly
and
all suffuring and mourning will end)
“Yesu manavalan namme cherkuvan...madiya vanil vellippeduvan
Kalam asannamai preyare, orungam visudhiyode “
(Jesus the bridegroom will soon appear in the mid heaven to receive us, so
beloved let us prepare ourselves)
Our father was the youngest of six siblings: 2 brothers and
3 sisters. His mother passed away when he was two and a half years old and his
father, siblings and relatives raised his. They came from Ranni, Odikkandathil
, an ordinary middle class family.
After school education he joined his brother at the
Cheruvally rubber plantations and later married Annamma from Kadammanitta,
Thokkanal family and established their home in Cheruvally. After a few years he moved
to the Vaikundam rubber plantations (near Kulasekaram in Tamil Nadu). When I was
about 2 years old, my uncle brought me and my mother back to Kadammanitta while
achayan continued to work at Vaikundam. Later he moved to the rubber plantations
in Trissur. As the children started their school education achayan moved back
to Kadammanitta and worked in local rubber plantations and doing farming.
He sent all his children through school and college and
insisted that we all studied hard. I remember him watching us in the night
while we studied and made sure that we did not go back to sleep until we
completed our home work and studies.
Achayan was just an ordinary farmer in mid- Travanore in
Kerala. He struggled a lot during those years to put the children through a good
education. I remember, once he fell into a deep well and was hospitalized for
weeks. He developed chronic back pain from that incident and that was with him
on and off till the end.
As I look back, my father was a true pilgrim (nomad). He
moved from places to places. I remember going with him to most places he went
(Vaikundam, Trissur etc.) And later on
he followed me to most places that I went (Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, Bombay, and
Chicago)
God gave him his beloved wife, 5 children, 10 grandchildren
and 3 great-grand-children. He was blessed to see his legacy reach 4 generations.
Our lives were forever influenced by his good qualities of life such as hard
working, deep faith in God and a helping mentality.
For many years, achayan was a member of Kadammanitta Salem
and Kadammanitta Kripapuram Mar Thoma churches. After moving to Chicago he
continued to be part of the Chicago Mar Thoma church and later became a member
of the Pentecostal faith. He was a true
man of God, who respected all servants of God and believers. He was respected
by all in our communities in Kadammanitta and Chicago. He was diligent in
helping families and friends who were in need, especially in Kerala.
During our earlier visits back home, achayan was the one who
was making all arrangements as well as coming with us to various places that we
visited. He also came with us as we drove around various places in US.
A few minutes before the end, his neighbors and relatives
gathered in one of my uncle’s house in Kadammanitta and watched him via Skype.
All of them were able to bid farewell to him even thogh he has unable to
respond. As a token of respect and love towards achayan and our uncle, posters
are displayed with their pictures and condolences and announcing funeral
arrangements in our community in Kerala.
The wake service and funeral services are being broadcasted
live and relatives and friends in Kerala and other parts are watching.
We praise God for the opportunity to share this blessed life
of our beloved Achayan.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are
left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. – 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17.”
This is our hope and we will meet our achayan again on that day.
Once again, we express our sincere thanks to all relatives,
friends, God’s servants and faith community who visited, consoled and supported
us during these difficult times.
+Susan Abraham +Abe Abraham +Jayne Abraham