Even When Captain of Ship Has Passed, the Ship Will Stay Afloat

by Josi Gago

Progress in the face of adversity requires both perseverance and hope.

 

When all you have is Prayer…Balloons show up

April 11th, 1997. That was the day that my mother, Alejandrina, died. I was 34 years old with a husband, a mortgage, and 2 sons (a 3rd on the way), and my mother, the light of my life, the captain of my ship, the sole woman that had kept me in line for my entire existence had just perished.

What was I going to do?

How would I survive?

Who would be there to give me sound advice and the unconditional love I had only known from her?

So how did I get here 19 years later?

I persevered and have since celebrated 19 Mother’s Days without a living mother to celebrate.  There were 38 semi-annual check-ups at the doctor’s office without a mother to call afterwards just to soothe her illimitable worry that her daughter isn’t healthy.

How did I manage to deliver two more babies since her death, raise my 4 children, and find peace after a failed marriage?

It is simple…believing there is something greater than you can give you immense strength.  For me, relying on God was the answer.  Regardless of religious or spiritual beliefs, having faith in something bigger than you is powerful.

Josi Gago's motherOn the day that my mother died

On the day that my mother died 19 years ago, I remember vividly the prayers that went out to her and our family for months, even years. I remember getting phone calls from people that I had never even met telling me stories about my young mother in Cuba.

I would just smile along when they showed up at my doorstep with baskets of homemade goodies along with wishes for a better tomorrow. The collection of flowers and the 28th bouquet that I received that week filled my heart. All of them had one thing to say: God Bless and we send you our prayers.

They all mentioned something about the Lord or something about the angels watching over my family or the fact that my mother was surely in Heaven. Most people that my mother associated herself with believed in the power above and it was very evident.

Now, I don’t know what you believe or don’t believe in, but I have immense faith in my Lord. My belief has gotten me out of plenty of enormous hardships as well as miniscule bumps in the road…there is nothing too big or too small that can’t be resolved through prayer.

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