Tears streamed down her weathered brown cheeks. The aura of sadness that surrounded her touched those who gathered around. Thoughts raced through her confused and grief filled mind. What made today different from tomorrow? The sun still shone, the birds still sang, mist still shrouded the surrounding mountains. And yet… he will never come back again. Where has he gone? Will I ever see him again one day? What will happen to my children? What will they do without their father? How will I feed their constantly hungry bellies in the meantime? Oh – what do I do now? Why has this happened to us – isn’t life already hard enough?
Darkness waited at the edges of her thoughts – waiting to drown her in oblivion.
Around her in the already cramped hut she called home, the villagers gathered – consoling her the best way they knew how. Some offered their condolences, some prayed, some rubbed her hands to sooth her and others just sat –sharing her grief with her through the silence.
In the next room, other villagers gathered. A body wrapped in cloth lay in the center of the room (as the family was too poor to afford a coffin). Life seems so fragile. Just earlier that morning, that same body was filled with breath of life. He went with his little son to build a long promised chicken coop for the family and suddenly, a huge rotten tree branch fell on him. With his 6 year old son overlooking and a last cry from him, he died – pinned down by its heavy branches.
Where oh soul have you gone? How does one console your widow? What will happen to your family? Where oh God were you in all this? Did you permit this to happen? Has he gone back to you – though he only desired to know you but was held back by something? Where, how, why, what – so many questions remain unanswered….
* On Monday when I visited an OA village. That morning, the head of the family passed away tragically as a rotting tree gave way and fell on him. I wrote this as a reflection of what I saw when my family went to visit the family of the deceased.
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