It is always a heart-breaking affair to see spouses and parents being mourned and wished a final farewell.  

Believing, as some of us do, that we pass on to a better life, with angels and sweet music accompanying us for eternity, makes this slightly more bearable especially when the departed has lived a fruitful life.

But the death of a young and vulnerable person under tragic circumstances is totally devastating. The heart-rending scene of a deceased mother mourned by her middle-aged children is bad enough. But children dying before their own parents is completely wrong and unnatural.

However, human tenacity knows no limit.

While most of us, when faced with unbearable sorrow, will wail and curse our fate, turning despondent or worse, some of us manage, even in the worst of times, to rise above the frailty, the tragedy, the emptiness.

Lisa Maria’s father, and his extended family, have risen above the tragedy of her death. They have taken a most admirable step and set up a foundation, the Lisa Maria Foundation, which aims to explore the relationship between vulnerable youths and the people to whose care they are entrusted.

Backed by other members of his family, Tony Zahra has managed to channel the worst tragedy that could befall a parent into something positive.

This step will help society, help other vulnerable people like his darling Lisa Maria whose death could ironically become a beacon for a better, or less dangerous, future for many other young people like her. It took a deep sense of grace, an amazing grace to make such a thing happen.

Many of us grieved with him and his family. They have moved slightly on in their long way to find true inner peace. Unfortunately here will never be an end to their sorrow.

I salute the man.

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