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. ________________________________________________________________ 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. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
