She would have turned 25 today, if only she hadn't left so soon. Close family and friends visited her grave today to offer flowers and prayers, and to celebrate what would have been her 25th birthday. Kristine, the pastry chef in our group, made chocolate cupcakes and a small chocolate cake shaped like a basketball -- Mae's favorite sport.

It seemed that the route for most airplanes taking off from the nearby international airport included a fly-by over Mae's final resting place, so Mae's dad, Tito Ricky, would joke that Mae was waving at us from the plane's window each time a plane was overhead every 5 minutes or so. I remember how a priest once explained death: "Just because the ship or the plane disappears in the distance doesnt mean it has stopped existing...it still continues on with its journey, even though our eyes can no longer see it."

As the sun began to set and the stars were coming out, we all sang happy birthday to Mae, hoping our prayers and the song, would reach her where she is...high above the clouds, way beyond the twinkling stars...all the way up in heaven.

"If people we love die, then they are lost only to our ordinary senses. If we remember, we can find them anytime with our hundred secret senses." - Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses

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