Jesus "Tuti" Reider Siles

I would like to thank everyone for being here. Our family and friends locally and in Costa Rica that are joining us via zoom. A special heartfelt thank you to the Pastor and congregation. Your presence means so much to us. He loved his church family so much. I know if he were he would probably have a really good joke as an icebreaker. This past week, I’ve struggled to make sense of such a profound loss. I found myself searching for words—wondering, What would I say to my dad if given the chance? These verses came to me in a devotional today and I think it's what he may have wanted me to know. Ezekiel 37:3-5 (CSB) [3] Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only you know.” [4] He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! [5] This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. https://bible.com/bible/1713/ezk.37.3-5.CSB Thank you heavenly father for being present in this difficult moment with us. Today, I want to honor my father for a life well lived. I want to congratulate him on being a man of deep love for God and family. We are dynamic people, and who my father was to me may not be who he was to you. I can only speak to the journey we walked together. To me, he was a generous, kind, and direct man. Before I knew him as my father, he had already lived fully—he had loved and been loved by his family, played soccer for his country, and shone as a national track star. He was a poet, loved to dance, to laugh, and to talk—to everyone. I remember once, we were waiting in line for passports. It took hours. But by the end, my dad had made friends with everyone around us. The whole line was part of one big group conversation—because that’s who he was. He brought people together. He was always there for me. Every time I moved, he was there—carrying boxes, helping me pack. When I was young, he worked evenings so he could be home when my sisters and I came back from school. He took me to doctor’s appointments, made us meals—meals that were… definitely his own. He had his specialties: gallo pinto, ceviche, and his “chef salad” on special occasions. He was my running buddy, especially around the lake in Flushing Meadow Park. Sometimes I couldn’t keep up, but he would always slow down so I could run beside him. He sang in church and wrote poetry for God. He told the kind of jokes that made me laugh until I cried. Isn’t it interesting how tears stream down our faces during both the best and worst of times? Because that’s where I find myself now—between laughter and grief. I was extremely blessed to have my father live with me these last five years. That time—our mornings, our routines, our prayers, our jokes—that was the greatest gift he could have ever given me. Each time I kissed him goodbye before work, I never knew if it would be the last. In the anxious moments, we would pray. And then… laugh. Because in our lowest moments, my dad taught me to pray then laugh. That was the antidote. They say the price of love is grief. And that’s where we are now—grieving the loss of a man who made people feel good, who made them laugh, who believed in God fiercely. His greatest legacy to me was that he introduced me to God. He lived with reverence for the Word of God, and he shared it freely with others. There is so much more I could say about him. I could never finish. His memory is the treasure of my heart. Thank you, Papi, for the life you lived, for the example you set, and for the father you were to all of us but especially to Paul and I. I congratulate you. You ran the race. And now, your reward is the glory of God. Ezekiel 37:12-13 (CSB) [12] Therefore, prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. [13] You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.’ https://bible.com/bible/1713/ezk.37.12-13.CSB I pray that God will restore my father to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And I pray that God will breathe life—hope—into us, so we may continue the journey with courage. Amen.