A Moment Cemented in Time

By Alondra Miramontes

Everyone has had at least one moment in life they’ll always remember. Leland Lane describes how his father's passing changed him in 2016. Lane was six years old when his father passed away, but he didn’t understand at the time what happened.

“I was six and didn’t really understand death at the time, you know, and I was innocent. I had just moved to San Bernardino with my mom and siblings,” Lane shares. Lane describes how his father had helped them all with the move-in process, painted the walls, and helped with different tasks. He reflects on how he remembers his father in the hospital and making a trip to the store with his mother and sister to get him a get-well card and balloons.

Student Leland Lane photographed during Rialto High School football game Photo credit: Alondra Miramontes

Thinking his father had something as simple as a cold, unbeknownst to him, it would be the last time he got to talk to his father. “I stood by him in that bed, and he looked great to me, nothing out of the ordinary. He seemed fine; little did I know that was going to be the last time I would ever talk to my father.” 

Lane described how he recalls his mother dressing him up, going to church, seeing his whole family, and unknowingly being at his father's funeral, not fully grasping what happened. “My grandma was bursting into tears the whole service, and I sat next to her bored, looking at the casket.” At the time, Lane didn’t know what happened but kept hearing his dad brought up in conversation, “They kept talking about my dad, and I was like, what’s going on? When they opened the casket, I saw him lying there.”

The next few moments were painful not only for him but also for his family. “When they opened the casket, I saw him laying there peacefully and still, my grandma next to me yelling and screaming. I knew this wasn’t just him sleeping in a fancy bed in church.” 

The next few moments were spent at his grandmother's house on his mom's side. He sat next to his older cousin and had a conversation with him where he forever remembers the moment his cousin explained death and why everyone was crying. 

“My cousin asked me why I wasn’t feeling sad, and I didn’t know why, and he explained what happened, why my dad died, and explained to me how I’ll never see him again and how he’s with the Lord right now. Right then and there, I finally realized what death was and burst into tears like my grandma was.”

“I’ve thought about my dad every day ever since,” Lane shares.