Eulogy of Jeremiah Ilao

Jeremiah, as a little child, was very peculiar. Unlike many children around him, the unexplored was not a frightening place for him; he embraced it. This was not always a good thing. Sometimes. it got him into some trouble. One time, as candy vendor was passing by his home, Jeremiah thought it would be a good idea to chase it. As he was running after it, he bumped into a group of thugs who almost through him off a bridge. He escaped only by his Grandpa being right behind him to scare off the thugs. Another time, he thought it would be a great adventure if his 4 year old sister were to put him in a suitcase once. After being locked in there for 4 hours, he realized that it was not as fun as he planned. Nevertheless, this ambition did separate him from others (in a good way). He would participate in things that other kids were too shy or too "cool" to do. This made his childhood much richer. He never grew out of it so he was always the goofy kid. He didn't take what others thought into account so the things that would spill out of his mind were kind of silly. Though, even if he were criticized for it, he wouldn't even care. He just loved to laugh. Though as he grew into high school, he was not as ambitious as he was then. Every now and again, you could see the twinkling of that ambitious youth come out of him.

Jeremiah established a foundation of what he stood for in elementary school. Through great teachers and role models, he came to an idea that would decide how he lived his life. The world was not black and white to him, and some problems in the world that his figures would present and challenge him with were not easy. He realized that some problems did not have absolute solutions to them. So what did he decided? He decided to strive for and struggle with it. He knew that if he ever settled; truth and righteousness would be lost.

Did he ever told you what his last name meant? Ilao, in the language of tagalog, means light. He was the light to kids who would have missed opportunities of adventure, laughter, and new experiences. He was torch passed down from his teachers and role models to continue their teachings and values into his life. Jeremiah Ilao was this light. If he didn't write this himself, he would be very flattered.