It has been a week now since a traumatic incident happened. The memory still is vividly clear and fresh that it always breaks my heart, crushed into pieces. It feels like I am dying inside. I could not bear the pain, it is so hard to accept, and I could not help myself but mourn and cry an ocean of tears. Quick, sentimental tears are even falling while I am writing my message of appreciation and gratitude to all of you my dear friends in Hive. You have my most sincere appreciation and my deepest gratitude.
Walking down memory lane...
My dearest sister Febe Erika, @erikasue found out about the Hive community through Splinterlands. When the pandemic started, she was looking for a way to engage and nurture more of her interest in cryptocurrency, gaming, trading, and blogging, making her perfectly fitted in an amazing community like Hive, not to mention that she was once the grand winner of the Globe Philippines blogging contest, the grand winner of Xiaomi Philippines contest in Tiktok, and many more.
It breaks my heart to always remember all the happy memories with her. She is both beautiful inside and out. She is very thoughtful, helpful, generous, compassionate, and kind. We are not born with a silver spoon but I feel so blessed because I have an angelic sister and very loving parents. She may be brilliant, skilled, and talented but she was down to earth. Perhaps my sister is a very humble person because our parents always reminded us even when we were still young to always be humble about whatever we would achieve and have in life, and that all glory and honor always belong to our God.
I had truly witnessed how hive became a very special and priceless community to my dearest sister. The moment she joined Hive, I could feel that she was very happy and excited about interacting with everyone in the community every single day even though she do not know personally all of everyone she met.
Most of the time, I saw her laughing and very happy every time she was engaging in the Discord channel of @hiveph. I have seen how happy she was and there was even a time that I was questioning and wondering why.
However, the biggest challenge came when I was still a newbie on the platform and made a mistake that became an obstacle in my journey here. I lost interest and was about to give up but through my sister @erikasue's encouragement and motivation that I decided to give this one more try.
It was my sister Erika who inspired me to come back here. She invited me to join the @hiveph discord server too. I was very happy when I was accepted there but I was not as active as my sister because I have a lot of tasks to do in my workplace and I could only engage during weekends. It was the night of August 14, 2022, when my sister suddenly surprised me with her delegation. She once said, “Te idelegate taka 50 HP ha. Padayon baya sa Hive Ate Jeddah, bantay lang jud ka.” This is a Cebuano way of encouraging and pushing me to continue writing here.
In a blink of an eye, she was gone...
But the saddest incident struck last August 15, 2022, at around 1:00 pm while waiting for the bus at the checkpoint of Alae, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. My sister was accidentally hit by a Mitsubishi Pajero 1999 model which led to her immediate death. In a blink of an eye, she was gone. I held her as long as I could. A very traumatic and tragic event for me and my family.
Despite what had happened, I informed all her closest friends. The incident became trending on Facebook and the news but her friends in Hive didn't know it yet because my sister was @erikasue in the blockchain. Knowing that she was so happy with all the friends she had in @hiveph, I didn't hesitate to inform them about what happened. A photo of the scene was sent and all of our friends in @hiveph were deeply saddened by her sudden death.
Until such time that one of my friends @jude.villarta chatted me on messenger at around 5:49 on August 15, 2022, with all the comforting words and sympathy. And then Hive PH's community leader @adamada personally messaged me for permission and consent to do a fundraising for Erika. I was surprised and speechless after having read his message of support for my dearest sister. And then all other users outside the @hiveph community also extended their help and for that, I and my family are forever grateful.
@indayclara, Hive PH's treasurer, also reached out to me and sent out the partial donation from the community's fundraising blog for Erika last August 18 and August 20.
I have received a total of Php 29,951.28 from Hive which has been used for the construction of her grave.
“Always loved, never forgotten, forever missed, you, Erika.”
My sister’s body was laid at the Philippine Independent Church last August 16, 2022. I was amazed at how she was very loved by everyone and my family did not truly expect a large crowd to visit and remember her even friends and relatives from far-off places just to see her one last time. My mother and father even cried because of the loving and caring people who expressed their deep sympathy for our family which my parents did not expect.
She was buried in Alae Cemetery last Friday, August 19, 2022, around 11:00 AM beside the graves of our dearest loved ones - our deceased uncle and grandfather. This was the very reason why we chose to bury her here. We customized her grave with a sunflower as it was her favorite one. She will always be loved, never forgotten, and forever missed.
Moreover, she truly took a big part of our hearts as she genuinely touched our lives like an angel. My life will never be the same again without her. Perhaps I was saved for a second so that she will always be my guardian angel. What a painful reality it is as we have lost her but our family has gained the sweetest angel ever.
YOU ARE AN ANGEL, ERIKA!
Y-ou are an angel, Erika.
O-pen our hearts and mind to
U-nderstand a painful reality.
A-ll my hopes is for you to
R-est in
E-ternal peace my dear Angel.
A-nd may your soul
N-ow rest in peace.
A-n angel you are, Erika.
N-ow that you are
G-one in our lives
E-very beautiful memory of you
L-ives in our hearts forever.
Words aren't enough to thank you all...
I do not have even the words to thank you, dear Hive community. I truly appreciate this more than you would ever know from the bottom of my humble heart. I will never forget all your kindness most especially for all the love, care, and support for my dearest sister, Febe Erika. You would all have my deepest thanks for supporting my family in this toughest and darkest moment of our life.
THANK YOU, HIVE!
T-o all of you my dearest friends in
H-ive community
A-lways know that
N-o words could describe your
K-indness to my family.
Y-ou all have my
O-verflowing love and
U-tmost respect.
H-ive community
I am eternally grateful and I am
V-ery thankful to
E-veryone for everything.
Dear Hive and Hive PH community, you will always have my most sincere appreciation and my deepest gratitude. Always know that I am eternally grateful. Thank you very much! 😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏❤️