Avelino Morales Santos, Jr.

August 25, 2012

Praise the Lord for giving me a “special someone” for the past 42 years. He was a good Christian, husband, father and grandfather whose priorities were God and his family.

As a Christian he has a strong faith in God. He was not afraid to die but he did not want to die yet. He was very much concerned about his family he would leave behind so he chose to undergo “tracheotomy” and “peg hole” surgeries hoping to prolong his life. He was warned that he would just suffer. He was a victim of Lou Gherig Disease or ALS – Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis which damages the neuromuscular system. He loved the Tagalog Pampango Sunday School Class especially Pastor Manuel, Rod, Elson and Ruben. He meditated every morning on the Bible. He told Myrna it would be DNR when his heart stops beating.

As a husband, he was so loving, kind and full of sense of humor. He loved to play jokes. He was also sensitive to the needs of others. He was always willing to send financial help to relatives and friends in the Philippines.

I believe he had a premonition of the inevitable because he was so in a hurry to have Mr. Nem Ocampo renovate our kitchen and to have our grinder and garage door repaired. He also practiced me in driving several times.

We also had a “family council” finally after it was postponed several times. We discussed our living trust and all his final wishes.

I will always remember his love, when although he was not feeling well, he insisted to drive to Mission Valley SAS shoe store to buy me a birthday gift (June 12, 2012) which cost him $250. I did not know then it would be his farewell gift to me.

He told me he would feel sorry when he dies because we would be helpless without him. I told him we would be ok with God’s help, not to worry about us and we would let him go.

As a father, he was a good provider. Although he was a lawyer in the Philippines, his first job was telemarketing with Pastor Benny Nicolas, Pastor Joe Soriano and the late Mrs. Jane Soriano. Then he had a double-job as a security guard at the airport and Horton Plaza. As I looked back I believe that his lack of sleep, extreme exhaustion and exposure to cold weather at night time contributed to his weak lungs and immune system.

As a grandfather, he loved Kiersten and Summer very much. As their baby sitter he was willing to go the extra mile for them. He patiently taught Kiersten how to read and to spell. He was very proud of Kiersten when she won second place in the spelling contest.

THANK YOU “ABAY” for being there for us. We will miss you but we know you are now with God. We love you very much. See you in the morning.

MY LIFE STORY

Husband, Father, Grandfather, Lawyer, Dog-owner/lover. That’s me in a nutshell… and more. My mother, Concepcion Morales Santos was a Deaconese in the United Methodist Church in my hometown, Malabon, Rizal. My father was Avelino Santos, Sr. worked as a bookkeeper. I have a sister named Miriam. There were only two of us children in the family. I grew up an active member of our church, Malabon Central United Methodist Church, held some positions of responsibility and once as Chairperson of the Administrative Board. I enrolled in Manila Central University, college of medicine on full academic scholarship until my 3rd year in medicine proper when I quit and shifter to law at University of Manila, attending night classes while working as a police officer investigator in the Manila Police Department during the day.

In school, I joined the campus politics, wrote articles for our school magazine, the Campus Leader, of which I was the associate editor. I also analyzed supreme court decisions for the college of law Gazette of which I was also the associate editor. After graduation, I took the bar exam and passed it after much prayer.

I got married even before the examination result was released for fear that I might fail and would not have the courage to marry Edna Soriano, who was my girlfriend for 10 years. We have two children, Johann and James, married to Graciela and they have two girls, Kiersten and Summer.

I helped charter the Manila Regency Lions Club International where I served as secretary, vice-president and lastly as president. During the period when the Philippines was under martial law, I worked with the Judge Advocate General’s office of the PC/INP [then part or branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines] as a Pre-trial Investigating officer and Assistant Military Defense Counsel with an additional duty of writing legal opinions for the office.

When the Philippine Revolution against the Marcos regime was about to break, my family and I left for the USA as immigrants on a petition of my father-in-law and brother-in-law that was approved just in time. Here in the USA, I worked in different jobs: telemarketing, security officer at the airport and at Horton Plaza until I got the job suited to my experience: an investigative Specialist at the San Diego District Attorney’s office and later on as a Child Support Lead Person in the office of Child Support Enforcement where I retired in 2004.

I continued with my church activities –among others as choir member, Sunday School teacher, and lastly as Chairperson of Evangelism. As I looked back at my life, I realized God had answered most of my prayers, put me out of harm’s way in the course of my duties as a police officer, sustained me during the time that counter charges were filed against me – which were all dismissed for lack of merit, including a disbarment complaint filed against me as a lawyer.

Now at 72, with a limp in my wait and a bothersome allergy that prompted me to make several trips to a Dermatologist, it dawned on me that though I cannot be completely cured of my ailment, I can still be “made whole” through my faith, lead a productive and fruitful life and continue to serve God. My ailment made me more tolerant of other people’s shortcomings, less judgmental, more compassionate, sensitive to the needs and feelings of people which enabled me to sense pain behind every smile.

I also learned to enjoy simple things in life: listening to good music, being with my two granddaughters, eating some delicious food, feeling the cool morning breeze at the seafront, reading good books, shopping at Costco or sometimes at Thrift stores searching for some “treasures we cannot live without”.

I am also promoting Sunday School which I believe is one of the best entry points for evangelism. I do not know what the future holds for me and my family, but this one thing I know- “the BEST is yet to come”… quoting the words of St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 2: 9… “eyes have not seen or ears have heard nor entered into the hearts of man, the things that God had prepared for those who love him”

By Joe Santos

May 12, 2012