In Memory of Manuel Munoz Desert diary from Tuesday, January 10, 2006 Thank you to everyone who supported us in presence and in prayer at the death of my father on Dec 30th. I share with you the words I found in my heart to express my grief as well as my hope. I searched for something I could say To bring you honor on this day, Dad My thoughts took many paths And here’s the one I lingered on Roses have their thorns and some cactus have their flowers The end of every man is death And we have precious little hours to Enjoy this breath of life Yes, the thorns have made us bleed And the spines are hard to remove But the food and drink the cactus gives And the fragrance of the rose ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE PAIN And may I propose That the thorns and spines, Common to us all, Are not what make us fall but Give us strength to stand For death is the end of every man Yet death and life are one Just as you were a father You were also your father’s son Your life here now is over The better part begun, is the hope The thorns and spines Directed us to see That the food and the drink And the red of the rose Are the promise of our eternity We’ll meet once again Down a path in Paradise I’ll hug you and you’ll hug me And it will be so wonderful To know all that our dim eyes Could not see I pray these words have honored you in part Because I am your daughter And these words are from my heart Rosa M. Fierro Jan 2006 Sister Rose