A FATHER, SENIOR, MENTOR AND GREAT FRIEND

“There is a meaning to death only if you have lived a meaningful life”
True to his own words my dearest father-in-law did indeed live a meaning-FULL life; a life worth celebrating.
To me he was a father, learned senior and mentor but most of all he was my good friend and partner in laughter and mischief. He embraced me as his daughter and junior and made me feel right at home from the first day we met. 

Nihal Jayamanne PC, a larger than life personality humble enough to acknowledge every single person in the room. Always the life of the party, he showed us how to stay young. I don’t think there was ever a day in his life where he did not make someone laugh. He showed us what endurance, strength, commitment, faith and courage really was in the way he faced life’s greatest challenges.  He showed us how to find beauty in the little things in life whether it be an orchid in bloom or the waves crashing against the shore. Loving, kind, generous and compassionate, a heart of gold that can never be replaced; he was truly a special human being. 

I am ever so thankful for the loving, nurturing and happy home in which my husband was raised. “You cannot be in safer hands than in the care of my son Tilanka” is what my dear father-in-law said to me which holds true to this day. It has been an absolute joy to be a part of his most precious family, which is everything to me.

They say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Truth is, you know exactly what you had, and you just never thought you would lose it. I thank God for blessing me with the very best father-in-love there is. By way of example he has taught me love, law and life in the short six and-a-half years I have had the joy of knowing him. He showed us each day that the most important thing in life that we must always hold on to is family.

He showed us how to find beauty in the little things in life whether it be an orchid in bloom or the waves crashing against the shore. Loving, kind, generous and compassionate, a heart of gold that can never be replaced; he was truly a special human being

 I could not be more thankful to God for his life, especially the extra lease of life he received post double lung transplant ten and-a-half years ago. My husband for not giving up on the possibility of saving his life, the donor family who so willingly donated the lungs, every single doctor who went above and beyond to give him the best of treatment and last but not least, my darling mother-in-law for taking care of him so very well in good times and in bad times for it is because of all this I was blessed to know him.

“In joy, in pleasure, in contentment; and also in pain, in suffering and sorrows, God is present…you must invite the divine to come within and fulfill the purpose of your existence…remember faith needs no reason”

Today marks one month since we lost our dearest Father-in-law. We find peace in the fact that he is in the most wonderful place where there is no more pain and suffering, reunited with his maker. Our family, chamber and home will never be the same without him but he has left us with some wonderful memories to last us a lifetime. We must hold on to every single one of these memories, smile and find beauty in the life that was truly lived and the life that we are to live because that is what our guardian angel in heaven would want us to do.