he came with excess baggage and a pastshe accepted and embraced all.
he laid his heart beneath her feet
and she laid it to rest beside hers.
he took her to his family
they loved her as their own.
and then he brought her to his friends
and she captivated them all.
and their love yielded three seeds
to form one happy family.
and as they watched their future grow
it seemed that they had it all.
he published a weekly magazine
and she was with him every step.
and when all thru the night he worked
she stayed up with him and was his muse.
and on weekends the whole family
would all troop to the presses,
where they all pitched in for daddy's magazine,
right from the eldest to the youngest.
and then one day the clouds gathered-
her kidneys started to fail,
and leaving the children with his family,
they both went to Vellore.
and there they learnt the awful truth
she needed a transplant.
he took an auto to the nearest PCO
and called his sister's home.
there he finally released the tears
that he did'nt want her to see.
and his sister wept with him,
and they both prayed for her.
it was late and the owner wanted to close,
but he stayed open 'cos of his obvious anguish.
but the auto driver could not wait
and he left him stranded there.
it was late and raining too heavily
for him to find another auto,
so he walked back in the pouring rain
to the woman who waited for him.
and they sent for their young children
and she resolved to be strong for them.
they were too young to face sickness,
and she wanted to spare them the pain.
so tho' the doctor forbade her to leave her room
she defied him and stood up straight.
she was smiling when her children arrived,
and she greeted them at the hospital gates.
she wanted a family holiday
and forced her body to make it so.
she played and strolled on the beaches with them
and not a single cry escaped her lips.
his family promised them funds,
her family promised a donor.
and so they all rallied round
trying to save the woman they loved so well.
he tried somehow to contribute,
by secretly mortgaging the land that his father left him,
and tried his best to bear the pain
of seeing her laid so low.
and tho' the transplant was a success
misfortune dogged their paths.
the doctors made another diagnosis,
she had the dreaded cancer cells.
they forced themselves to stay strong
and never let their babies see,
the tears they shed together
when the doctors gave up on her.
they finally flew home defeated.
he pushed her wheelchair slowly out.
but there they saw their first miracle-
a congregation of those whose lives their love had touched.
they came in two busloads and more
with banners saying, "welcome home".
and she turned defeat into victory
by rising unaided from her wheelchair.
and then the second miracle-
a prayer that gave her respite.
she regained some of her strength
and it seemed the clouds had passed.
once more they were a family,
and on Christmas they rejoiced.
celebrating their love and Jesus' birth-
the greatest gifts of all.
and she made their favourite Christmas dishes
and they opened their home to all their friends.
she took pictures of everyone
and the photos never betrayed her hand's tremor.
for death still refused to give her up,
and this Christmas was their family's last.
her lovely tresses slowly fell out
as cancer wormed its way back in.
they both watched with bittersweet pride
when their daughter had her first Sacrament.
this was to be the final time
they all went to Church as a family.
back to the hospital she went
and once again he was awed.
for still she refused to let her babies see
the pain that held her down.
she told her babies to go home,
she soon would join them there.
and he struggled to hold back his tears
for he knew she won't be coming home.
that night he finally learnt the truth
that love meant letting go,
and he watched her as she fought her last battle,
and death came to claim her for his own.
she took his strength with her when she left,
his sun had set, his footsteps faltered.
his flesh still roamed the earth, its true,
but his soul, she took with her.
he tried his best for his babies,
but his muse had left and his work suffered.
he tried to be both mother and father,
but all he felt was 'alone'.
he'd take his trusty lantern with him,
and to her grave he'd go.
and there he'd sit and talk with her,
till dawn forced him to go home.
his friends urged him to move on,
and introduced him to other women,
but his heart kept yearning for its twin
and he could not make the break.
till finally he found new friends
who helped him drown his sorrows,
he'd drink himself into oblivion
trying to run from a life without her.
the final blow that broke his back-
his landlord came to him.
they had to leave their beloved house
because renovations were due .
the pain of leaving their beloved home-
where they had laughed and cried and dreamt,
the home that she had loved so much-
it shattered the little dreams and hopes he had left.
he grew old in a matter of weeks,
and he made his way out of town.
to the place where they ate too little
and drank way too, too much.
this time he knew things were different,
he had pushed himself too far.
his blood sugar plummetted,
and he knew he had made a mistake.
he told the taxi driver to be quick,
to take him to his best friend.
but too late, when he reached his friend,
he had already spoken his last.
his spirit broke free of its earthly prison,
and his body was laid in her grave.
but his soul rejoiced because the song was true:
'"there are no more tears in Heaven".
their bewildered babies felt adrift,
but love still works its miracles.
his family took them in, one by one,
and loved them as their own.
and the eldest son was loved by one,
who says, "i'm sorry that i hurt you,
and this is my way of apologising,
by re-telling the story you told me".
