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Wednesday, 04 October 2006 10:28 |
Goa Sudharop President, Mrs. Acaria Almeida, and her daughter Rhea
attended the Fernandes Family Memorial Service yesterday. Many of you
are aware of the tragic traffic accident recently which led to the three
Fernandes family deaths (Mekson, Sharina & Nash). Here is a write-up of
the service held in Santa Clara, California.
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By Acaria Almeida
When my daughter and I walked in to the chapel, we were in tears to see
the three caskets open.
Little angel, Nash, was between his mother and father in a white casket.
Nash had a baseball cap on his head and they were all resting in peace.
A few minutes later the caskets were closed and the chapel was filled
with many people.
Those that attended this service and the reception will agree that the
School handled everything exceptionally well. I spoke to the principal
of Monticello, Trinh Trinh, and she was just thankful for the
overwhelming support received from the school and the Indian community.
Father Joe Galang, their parish priest, led the service. Many family
members and friends were called upon to speak for the eulogy. The staff
and the children of Monticello Academy read beautiful poems and the
children sang like angels. We learned about the Fernandes family's
hospitality to everyone that came their way and how their big smiles
would brighten a room. Both the school and Mekson's work expressed how
this family touched them with their goodness and generosity. They
emphasized the importance to enjoy and cherish our family and friends
while we still have them in our lives.
After the service, we went to the reception where we got to know more
about this family through the cousins and friends that were close to
them. Following the accident, the closest friends that live around did
not hear about it until the next few days. Because of the financial
challenge at hand, the immediate reaction was to seek help. Richie
Colaco, a close friend from San Diego, contacted Larry Silveira and
informed him to seek help from the community through Goa Sudharop.
When Larry called me, I immediately sought out more information in order
to inform the community.
By next morning, the Monticello Academy School had established a Benefit
fund with Wells Fargo to cover funeral expenses as well as transporting
the deceased family back to Goa. Sharina worked at Monticello Academy
for only five months, and gained so much love and support from the
school community. They also arranged for the reception held at the
school where food and beverages were supplied from a neighboring Indian
restaurant, where they had dined at the night of their tragic accident.
On the wall were two large paper doves where guests were encouraged to
write their own personal messages to the family, which will also be sent
to Goa. By the end of the reception the spaces were completely filled
with lovely heart-felt messages.
Just yesterday, Randeep a close friend of Sharina and Mekson spread the
word at the Sikh temple she attends, and in 15 minutes, they collected
$3,000.00 on the spot. Indian Radio stations have also made
announcements about the accident and the benefit fund. Local News
Papers, Indian News papers, Goan Institute of San Francisco and Goa
Sudharop (USA) made announcements which went out via emails and many
have contributed directly to this fund.
The caskets will be flown back to Goa this Thursday. Waiting to receive
them are the mothers of both Mekson and Sharina. Mekson is an only
child, who lost his father when he was only three years old. I cannot
imagine what the mother is going through to realize that she no longer
has her son and family. Sharina lost her father a year ago. Her brother
visited her in May and was able to see Nash for a short visit of 2 hrs
while his ship was docked. He is the only member of the family fortunate
enough to see little Nash. Let's continue to keep them in our prayers.
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