https://youtu.be/aJxrX42WcjQ You Raised Me Up (by Josh Groban)
This song “YOU
RAISED ME UP” is dedicated to our ever steadfast, faithful and loving
mother…. Leticia Gaviola Velasquez.
Every time I listen to this song, it brings tears to my
eyes and chills down my spine….
It is so true of our mother….Leticia….our quiet,
unassuming, humble and profoundly spiritual & faithful…mother.
She is a wonderful human being. She has led us in her own quiet ways, from
darkness; from the forest of confusion and the stormy troubled waters of our
childhood… to where we are now. She raised all of us, and also had the time, energy & compassion to raise most of her grandchildren starting with my older brother - Joe's children...Michelle, Mark & Melanie; then mine... Malaya & Diego Ray...and even our youngest brother - Rocky's children....Jaelyn & Olivia....where did she get all her energy... I wondered? and always the answer will come up as... she has an inner spiritual well always filled with unconditional love for all her children....
I still remember, during the Seventies when our Dad had to leave us to immigrate
to the United States of America, in order to be able to support all of us….It was Martial Law in the Philippines then....We
were left at a loss… about our future.
My Mom, I know in my young heart, had the most difficult time…She had to
raise 6 children almost on her own… having given up her teaching career a long
time ago, and Daddy being the sole breadwinner….She did not know what to do…
It was very tough going at first, but I watched her as
she slowly, through the years…through her deep Faith in a God that watches over
all of us….slowly, pulled herself together….I was only about 13 years old, my
older brother, Jojo 14, and the rest of my brothers, James, Jason, Jonathan….12,11,10
years old respectively….and our newborn in the family, baby Rocky, barely one year old.
She is the reason we are where we are right now….Rocky,
that little baby, is now an ER doctor who is heroically fighting in the
trenches of this Coronavirus warfare…in NYC…. Jonathan, another ER doctor in
Perry Georgia, fighting the same battle to save lives every day. Kuya Joe, our truck driver who is among the
ESSENTIAL workers who deliver what Americans need during this crisis. James and Jason, in the Philippines, always
doing their best and always doing their part to fulfill the responsibilities of
taking care of our aging father; who retired in the Philippines…. And me, I am
now a TEACHER, trying to do my part in this landscape….I also sing, thanks to
my Mom…who taught us how to play guitar as kids, and our Dad - Tommy, who loved to sing to us....they exposed us to all this
wonderful, groovy music as we were growing up.
I will be forever grateful.
Every lyric of this song, “You Raised Me Up”…. Sings
our praises to our dear mother, how much of a HERO she is to each one of
us….How, we would not be here, successful in our own careers, and still
believing in a GOD that never FAILS… Her LOVE was always our shining LIGHT, our
only BEACON, she never failed us….we were together and in spite of the broken
shambles of a home we were trying to recreate in our own hearts….Knowing that
she is always there for us was enough…enough for us to keep going, to be STRONG
and support one another….This is what we learned from a mother who never ever
gave up.
What we are going through collectively right now,
during this global Coronavirus pandemic, is only making us stronger than
ever….Think of all the mothers and fathers who raised us….
“YOU RAISED ME UP SO I CAN STAND ON MOUNTAINS,
YOU RAISED ME UP TO WALK ON STORMY SEAS,
I AM STRONG WHEN I AM ON YOUR SHOULDERS,
YOU RAISED ME UP… TO MORE THAN I CAN BE.”
Our parents did not raise us to give up now….We are
from a strong breed of humans, we are going to get through this. Together, at home, wherever you are, STAY
STRONG… and thank your precious mothers and fathers.
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