I remember the perfect, beautiful day that my oldest daughter was sealed for all eternity in the Lord’s Holy House to her sweet husband. What a perfect moment to be in the Temple with your family and watch your dear child, who has lived her life worthily to be in the temple, holding hands with a man who was worthy enough to bring her to the temple. Since that day, I have had a few more weddings in the temple and have had the same feeling of joy in my wonderful children. However, Rosa’s wedding sticks out particularly in my mind as I reminisce about my son Antonio’s short life. When Rosa got married, Antonio was a senior in high school, preparing to transition into the world and get a job. He could not go in the temple with us, but he patiently waited outside with his other siblings. However, the beautiful wedding day was tainted by my memories of what happened when we exited the temple. We were all smiles and grins as we walked out of the temple, after feeling the Spirit of the Lord so strongly, but my heart fell and the grins and happiness was quickly replaced by worry and strong anxiety when I saw that none of my children were outside waiting for us. Realistically, I should have thought that they were just around the corner or went on a walk, but I knew immediately that something was wrong. A cousin ran toward us and told me in rushed, worried tones that Antonio’s heart stopped beating and he had fainted and my other children had rushed him to the hospital. We did the same. We arrived at the hospital and I was in hysterics. My Victor was strong for me and held me close and whispered reassuring things in my ear the whole way there. We quickly found all of our children huddled around Antonio’s hospital bed. The doctor explained to me that he had arrhythmias, which is a disorder of the heart rate (pulse) or heart rhythm, such as beating too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or irregularly. Antonio’s was beating too slow and he would need to have a pacemaker implanted to regulate his heart rhythm. He told us not to worry and that he would be fine. I thought, YEAH RIGHT, how can a mother not worry? My amazing sons had already administered a Priesthood blessing on Antonio and I felt the comfort of the Holy Ghost in the room and in my heart. How grateful I am for worthy Priesthood holders in my family and that great power of God to bless the lives of my family. I felt comfort that my son was not in pain and that he would live until our Father in Heaven wanted to take him home.
