Recently my eldest daughter showed me a snapshot she had taken whilst on a camping trip. It depicted a coastline view with the most beautiful hues reflected by the sun just below the horizon. Dusk or dawn? The question seemed fair enough since I couldn’t make out the land’s features to determine whether the photo was taken on the west or east side of the island.
Is it sunrise or sunset? Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference.
Last Tuesday, 8th September, my mother-in-law passed away to eternal life. I was at her side during her last moments and shared with her the pain brought about by her illness.
It was a time for deep reflection.... is this her dying that I was witnessing, or was it her birth to a new life?
A few years back, just as in the case of the snapshot, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. The pain was there... which birth is free of the pangs of pain? Any woman who experienced childbirth can vouch for that!
Now, I felt at peace. There wasn’t the torment and anguish that I used to go through whenever I witnessed the departure of someone close to me from this world. No. There definitely was no mistaking the moment of birth to a new life!
Of course there is still the hurt that separation brings about, any kind of separation really... I can distinctly remember the time my daughter went out on her first date. I felt as if part of me were being torn away!
Yes. Of course it hurts. That is natural. We resent, even though we may not admit it, any kind of departure from what is familiar in our lives.
But soon after my mother-in-law was certified dead by the doctors, I suddenly realised that what we had gone through happened precisely on the feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It so happens that Mary was mother-in law’s name...Yes, I have not the slightest doubt about it... I had witnessed the birth of Mary to a new life.
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