My Family After Tragedy

Friday, June 25th was a bittersweet day for me.  I spent precious minutes in the company of my wife before she was cremated.  At the funeral home, a chapel was prepared where she was waiting for me. When I entered the chapel, she was lying peacefully  wearing a hospital gown.  -"Do not worry honey, I brought you a nice dress and flowers".  The funeral director helped me dress my wife for the last time. The ceremony was a private affair.  Some of our friends and family members sent flowers and cards - I read their messages to her.  For this meeting, I created a  bouquet of flowers  from her garden and added to it two flowers from each floral arrangement that she received at home. Special privilege was given to her hands and she held two Ingrid Bergman red roses grown in her garden; her hands were beautiful! She looked peaceful, I am happy that the funeral home did a dignified job and I thank them for that. For her journey, she wore one of her favorite summer dresses. She loo

Christina's tumor was discovered on the evening of Monday, February 3rd, 2020.   Early in the day, she called me at my work to tell me that she could not concentrate on her work, that it was extremely difficult to put a sentence together.  I thought that she was feeling too much pressure to close difficult business deals that she had been working on for the past few months.  To help her relax, I suggested taking the afternoon off and prepare for the evening Toastmaster's meeting, where she was going to deliver a speech - "go easy on yourself Christina, it is just a deal". Toastmasters was Christina's favorite activity.  She was an exceptional speaker.  Her aspiration was to become a professional speaker, go on tours and enjoy her life doing what she felt really passionate about.  I had seen Christina speak at different events and enjoyed her talks immensely.  Her voice intonations, always calm and confident, body language perfect.  She always had something funny a

On June 21, 2021, at 9:20 PM the light in the eyes of my wife, Christina Iren Horvath, ceased to shine.  Her family was with her: our two daughters, Livia and Raquel, and me.  She will be greatly missed; she was a beacon in our lives. While she was taking her last breaths of life Raquel was playing her clarinet, and Livia was comforting her telling her that we were there, that she was not alone, I was holding her hand.  In the last second, I felt her grip getting slightly tighter, then a slow release as two big pearls came down her cheeks and her breathing stopped.  I think that she was sad that she was leaving us, that we will miss her. I am very proud of our girls and I know that Christina, as a new angel in the firmament, is also proud of them. We lost Christina to Glioblastoma (GBM) a very aggressive type of brain cancer.  All GBMs types are grade IV and, as of today, there is no cure for it. The objective of this blog is to honor my family and the memory of my wife Christina.  I w