Letter from a grieving grandmother
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
Perhaps many of you do not know me or my family personally. But perhaps just as many of you have heard of what my family had gone through these last two months. Painful as the remembrance is to me and my grandchildren let me give you a brief a summary as possible of our family's grief.
Eighteen years ago my youngest daughter Cynthia Marie (Cindy to us who love her) married Francisco (Bobby) Tan, a young man from Molo, Iloilo City. They were blessed with six beautiful children and many successful businesses. I, like most mothers, felt that Cindy had nothing more to ask, they all seemed so very happy with each other, the parents loving one another and the children enjoying the overflow of this love. Nothing more to ask indeed, until that fateful day of January 9, 2006 when our world was shattered by a single cruel act of violence.
Cindy, Bobby, and my five year old granddaughter Kathy were brutally murdered inside their house for reasons we cannot yet explain. Within days, my grandchildren, aged 17, 15, 14, 11 and 1 year old, were left orphaned and their world turned upside down. This terrible event has left them grieving and stunned and has robbed them of anything resembling a normal life. The day after they buried their mother, father, and sister, they were forced by circumstances to leave their home with only the clothes on their backs, in slippers and with nothing to look froward to but a bleak future amidst lawyers and court cases.
I am a widow, retired, and until recently I looked forward to nothing more than a quiet life watching my grownup children raising their own families. I was content knowing that I had a pension that sufficiently supported my needs without having to bother my children. In the blink of an eye all this changed, ruthlessly and without warning. I had to become mother, father, grandmother, psychologist, material provider, and strength to my grandchildren. I have to fight people with immense material wealth and power to protect my grandchildren.
I am blessed with a family that has rallied by my side with complete and unfailing support. And now I come to all of you in humility, to ask for your prayers, your strength and your support. Help us raise our voices to God, who is a just God, so that He can BRING THE KILLERS OF CINDY, BOBBY AND KATHY TO JUSTICE, not just for their sakes, but for the sake of their orphans.
Please pass this letter to your friends, your prayer groups, your church. Prayer is our only hope and you, my grandchildren's greatest chance. Thank you with all my heart.
A grieving grandmother,
Rosalinda Garcia Zayco