Remembering Omar—11 May 2019

Today was the second anniversary of the tragic death of Omar David Garcia Hoyos in a motor vehicle accident, and his family and friends spent the afternoon and evening at CUE Haven to remember and celebrate his life.  They all visited the memorial tree they had planted for Omar in the CUE Haven wetlands, had a brief memorial ceremony and planted new trees.

Friends and family on site today included Omar’s parents, Alba and Omar, his sister Vanessa, his brother Hernan and friends Alex, Anna, Ash, AJ, Bill, Bradley, Brittany A., Brittany S., Camilo, Jessica, Jordon, Kara, Lisa, Lizzie, Luz, Maihi, Mariska, Mel, Monica, Paige, Penny, Rebecca, Reuben, Rizhan, Rosie, Shannon, Sonny, Tracey, Tash, Tom, and Troi.

People came and went during the course of the afternoon based on their work commitments for the day but everyone spent at least a couple of hours and were present for the memorial ceremony in the evening.

The first arrivals at noon were Alba and Vanessa along with Camillo and Luz.  After a quick snack, Alba, and Luz went off to do some trimming in the wetlands near Omar’s tree. Friend Jessica joined them later.

They made a huge amount of progress and the wetlands boardwalk is looking really good.

In the meantime, Vanessa and Camillo went to work planting.  Today’s plan was to do infill planting of long-lived native trees (puriri, taraire, kohekohe and totara) and also some second tier trees (mahoe, mapou, cabbage trees) in an area where the pioneer trees have grown up really well and have created a nice canopy for the slower growing long lived trees.

We drove up to the site and went to work.

As more people arrived, Thomas drove them up to the planting site where he provided a safety briefing and planting demo and they joined the group.

In no time, the group managed to plant all of the trees we had for them.  We picked up all the empty pots and crates and loaded everything into the ute.

After the planting, everyone spent some time relaxing and catching up.  It was a fantastic group of people and a real tribute to Omar.

Alba and Vanessa then led a short remembrance for Omar – a loving, caring, vibrant, fun loving, talented and well respected tennis coach.

We were honored and humbled to host this wonderful day to remember Omar.  It was so nice seeing Omar’s family and friends again and meeting many more lovely new people.  The day was a great tribute to Omar and the trees planted today will add to the positive energy that his spirit is part of at CUE Haven.

Many thanks to Vanessa, for organising the day and a BIG thank you to everyone who came out today to remember Omar and celebrate his life.  Plus you have all made a major contribution to CUE Haven.  We were very impressed with your enthusiasm and eagerness to get involved. We hope you will all come back to CUE Haven often.

Omar, Alba, Vanessa and Hernan, we wish you continued strength. You, your family and friends are always welcome at CUE Haven and we are grateful that we can provide a place where Omar can be remembered and his life celebrated.

Omar David Hoyos Garcia

24 July 1991- 11 May 2017

* * *

They are not dead
who leave us this great heritage of remembered joy.
They still live in our hearts,
in the happiness we knew,
in the dreams we shared.

They still breathe
in the lingering fragrance windblown
from their favourite flowers.
They still smile in the moonlight’s silver
and laugh in the sunlight’s sparkling gold.

They still speak in the echoes of words
we’ve heard them say again and again.
They still move
in the rhythm of waving grasses,
in the dance of the tossing branches.

They are not dead;
their memory is warm in our hearts,
comfort in our sorrow.

They are not apart from us,
but a part of us.
For love is eternal,
and those we love shall be with us
throughout all eternity.