A day of forgiveness!

On 1985 I was having my jump start on production; I started working few months earlier for a new production company: TVFILMS, we got our first project: A baby shampoo and it was a huge project. We needed to recreate “Snow White” ambience, and to build a safe pool for few happy babies that will participate on that project. It is incredible the logistics that are behind a 30 second TV Commercial, all the details that have to be considered, the equipment that has to be rented, and free lance people to do from simple to complex tasks… Finally the shooting day arrived: February 14, 1985. Everything was running slow, but precise. The call was at 6 a.m. with a crew of 65 people ready to shoot.

By 11:00 a.m. we had filmed only 3 of 18 scenes required for the commercial. At that time I received a call from my older brother José Antonio. My dad was died. He had a stroke few days earlier and he was transferred to the Central Military Hospital in Mexico City. After I received the notice, I walked in to my office and cried for a few minutes… My partner Alberto came to me and told me, “You already have done everything here… I can continue without you… and you did a terrific job… so don’t worry, here is everything running, and if I need something, I’ll call you…”

That day, I was sad, with a mixture of feelings inside me… The last time I was with him at the hospital, I express to him my anger and my frustration… I told him: “I don’t forgive you, and I will never forgive you for all the things you did to us…” and after those words I walked out with bitterness and anger inside me… While I was driving to the hospital to meet my mother and brothers, I was thinking… “And it was on a Valentine’s day!”

Many things happened in my life after that… the bitterness started consuming my soul and my heart, and every Valentine’s day I remembered all the negative things… until 13 years later, I accepted Jesus in my heart… Jesus came to my life and gave me a renewed heart, and I remember how after few days I said to Dora… "you know, I am forgiving my dad right now…"

God gave me the strength and power of forgiveness! And when I forgave him… a flow of good memories came to me… of the good things he did for me, of the good times that we had, and I noticed also my physical legacy…

Is incredible how bitterness can make people blind, and affects not only the one who is experiencing it, but also all the people around...

Today, 23 years later I can see how God gave him an opportunity to depart on a special day, as a reminder of his forgiveness and love for us. Today, I consider Valentine’s not just as the day of love and friendship, but also as the day of forgiveness, understanding and peace. Love you Dad.