Goodbye, Auntie Dede

"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying." Revelation 21:4

I can't help but be moved by this line that I get daily in the Words for Today e-mail from the famous and sometimes controversial Plebes and Cavaliers Forum better known as PnC.

Today, our family will bid farewell to the woman we fondly call as Auntie Dede, who shall be laid to rest in our hometown of Minglanilla.

She lost her painful battle with bone cancer one day after the 29th death anniversary of my father, her elder brother. Auntie Dede - Dede Quiñones-Edlich - was 60 years old when she passed away leaving behind a family she loved so much that she dedicated almost all her life to helping us reach our goals and see our dreams become a reality.

If not for her the support she gave her siblings and us her nephews and nieces, life would have been so much different for all of us.

She will be sorely missed for her kindness, her laughter, and also her penchant for food. Auntie Dede was God's gift to our family and she is now home with her Maker.

* * *

The rise and fall of Floyd Landis has broken many hearts of people hoping to see a successor to Lance Armstrong.

Like the many, who cheered for Lance in the Tour de France the past several years and wear the yellow LIVESTRONG baller band, this year's race wasn't as interesting as the previous ones.

When Landis took the yellow jersey then lost it after a disastrous climb and later on retake it to win the TdF, many suddenly began to notice the 30-year-old American while some even called him as Lance's heir.

Well, I believe that what Lance did for cycling can never be matched. And what he is doing for cancer awareness should be continued and supported by everyone whether you have somebody in the family fighting the Big C or not.

Back to Landis. There is still a confirmatory test that has to be done to prove that he did not take performance enhancing drugs.

However, even if he will be cleared after the second test, there will always be that cloud of doubt hanging over his head.

Lance also faced a lot of accusations about being a drug cheat, but many people do not buy it.

Lance overcame much bigger battles inside his body compared to his record-setting performance in the TdF.

I'm sure, the feat of Lance to turn things around despite his illness inspired Landis to overcome what seemed to be insurmountable odds to come from behind and take the TdF plum this year.

I hope I am right, but I'm sure that no matter what the outcome of this dope test would be, the loser in the end would still be Landis. Poor Floyd!