My late husband wasn’t very highly educated. He only graduated from the Dutch primary seventh grade. But as he descended from Chinese businessmen, he was an outstanding salesman.
His father was a descendant of a tin-mine owner from the island of Bangka. He was sent to study in Singapore and married a girl from Singapore, so that the family was English speaking. They had seven children, five males and two females. My late husband was the fourth son, all the five sons jointly started a family- business in producing reptile leather which they made into various articles: suitcases, men’s and ladies’ handbags and beauty-cases. Most clients were foreigners, as reptile leather was rare, and theirs were of high quality. My husband was so zealous and outstandingly patient in serving the customers, so that they preferred to have him serve them and he sold the most!
What his family didn’t realize was that he had over-worked himself so that he had become a workaholic and depressed. He drove himself and worked like a mad man. Finally, his heart gave up, and we had to bring him to the hospital where he kept mumbling: “I’m so tired, I want to go home!” I tried to comfort him: “Alright, as soon as the doctor is done with you, we go home!” “No.” He said, “I’m tired, I want to go home!” We all misunderstood him, as he meant the heavenly home! The Lord must have welcome him with open arms, for he closed his eyes and breathe his last breath peacefully!
The nurses prepared him and laid him in the coffin. All the church-members and relatives came to the hospital to say goodbye to him. I had no time to cry, as I had to thank so many people for their attention, as they sprinkled cologne over him as a goodbye token.
My late husband was well-known for his kindness. The Lord fulfilled his request to go to the Heavenly Father, who had prepared a mansion for him to become a citizen of heaven.
He left me on November 16th, 2005. Then, exactly one year later I felt as if a stone was laid on my heart, and I started crying soundlessly, while looking around as if I had lost something. I looked out of the glass- window… and I couldn’t believe my eyes! The gardenia plant which usually produced only one or two flowers per day, was covered with blooming gardenias all over, and looked like a giant hand-bouquet that only needed a bow tied around the stems to hold the bunch. It was truly a miracle! The Lord was comforting, and showing me that Alfred Gunadi’s request had been granted and he had safely arrived at the heavenly home which the Lord had prepared for him to rest.
The Lord’s blessings are usually abundant. God took him home on 16 November, 2005. The gardenias started blooming from November 16th, 2006 until my birthday on 29 November, 2006, so He’d given me additional gardenias for 13 days longer. I cut the stems with the blooming flowers and could fill several vases every week. The house smelt fragrant until my birthday, then all of a sudden, the plant stopped blooming and went back to its usual habit of producing only one or two flowers per day.
Although I was deeply sad, I was somewhat comforted as the message of my favorite flowers that God had sent me meant: “Don’t be sad, he had come safely home in his mansion to rest with Me!” So, I thanked and praised the Lord for His loving- kindness! •
Vilma K. Gunadi