Christmas gifts come in many forms

First of all, I want to greet all of you a blessed and joyful Christmas. May you and your families be blessed with good health, peace and prosperity.

In my long years of practice, clients often thank me for services rendered that positively changed life. But this week, I had one of those rare instances where a case has a profound and lasting impact on me personally.

This week I flew to Florida to personally attend to this case. There is this elderly woman involved in a car accident more than 10 years ago. As a result, she suffered from a significant brain injury that necessitated a series of major surgeries and extensive rehabilitation. As a divorcee, she has no immediate family in the US. Her children in the Philippines knew of her predicament, but were overwhelmed by how to deal with this situation.

In time she regained strength, but with brain damage her mental faculties are not fully recovered. A state court had to appoint a guardian to act on her behalf, manage her affairs, and make sure she gets continuous medical care.

As each day went by, the opportunity of the mother to see her children seemed more distant. But thanks to modern technology one of her children located her. Coincidentally, the family also learned that they have a distant relative in the US who was willing to fly from another state to visit her.

I was then asked to help out with what needed to be done. Since I am not licensed to practice law in Florida, I was just more of an observer rather than an advocate. And what I saw and heard were very extraordinary. Forget about the law and its nuances, imagine the scene as if you were in the room with me watching her children, finally, after more than a decade of wondering what had happened to her, have that chance to see and talk with her even just through a smartphone. Call me melodramatic but the tears that flowed were those of pure joy and genuine happiness. The mother now wants to go back home to spend her remaining years with her family. The children, too, were very ecstatic as they also want their mother to live with them in the Philippines.

The meaning of Christmas is different for each of us depending on our own personal circumstances as to time, particular needs, and specific situations. A child may think of Christmas as a time to receive new clothes and toys, but an adult may view Christmas more as time for the gifts of good health, a job promotion, or continuing success in work and other ventures.

In this particular case, this family's Christmas gift did not come in an elaborate box. Rather, their gift came wrapped in family love, unity, charity, forgiveness, and the commitment to take good care of their frail mother at this time when she needed them the most.

This column is not a substitute for professional legal advice obtained from a US-licensed immigration attorney. The information contained herein does not constitute a warranty or guarantee or legal advice regarding a reader’s specific immigration case. No attorney-client relationship is and shall be established with any reader.

For any questions, comments and observations, please contact Atty. Marco Tomakin at [email protected]