Trail of Tears

Hard realities in life strike at those unwary and unsuspecting hours 

In one month's time or so, I came face to face with three couples whose son's life ended differently but all tragic in human terminology.  They were all in their twenties envisioning to get a good life and augment their respective family needs. They all wanted to bring ease and quality life to their loved ones especially their parents.

A stone's throw from my church is the house of  Tony.  He was senior in high school at twenty years old. He was joggling janitorial job and school at the same time.  One rainy night he came home and heard the voice of his little puppy wrenching in pain.  He found the puppy groping for breath stack in a hole full of mud at their backyard.  Without any hesitations, Tony reached out for the poor puppy.  He forgot about his bruised hands due too much scratching from mosquito bites.  The puppy was very happy.  She crept lovingly at Tony's and kept licking his hands as the pet's way of gratitude that she was rescued from real suffocation by her master.  Tony spent quite sometime to pet the soft wool of his puppy until she kept still, forgot the trauma from the dark hole and slept soundly. 

A week later Tony had an on and off fever, sometimes trembling uncontrollably, feeling cold and very thirsty.  His jaw locked and hated to drink water.  He was rushed to the hospital but it was too late.  He was positive for rabies that caused his untimely demise.  The anti rabies vaccine and other medicines did not work after the diagnosis.  His younger brother who shared Tony's meal  also was found rabid but fortunately survived. This brought too much weight of grief  to his parents until today.

Ferdinand was the 23 year old gentleman, an only child and no doubt very talented.  As to physical features, he was tall and handsome.  He was the image of a son that every parent  wishes to grow being responsible and sensible.  At his young age, Ferdinand was already reaping the fruit of his labors and a family provider which is very rare who hailed from the province.  He was an industrial engineer.  He was top 2 during the national board exams and in a short time became a regular employee of the regional government with his own office and staff.  Ferdinand was on his way to realizing his many dreams especially for his future. He was desirous to build a comfortable house for his parents but was cut short .  He was found dead lying under the durian tree almost unrecognizable.  Every part of his visible body was bloated because of bees sting.  Being a very hard working man, even during holiday he reported to his office for some research assignment.  On his way home there was the tree where a hive of biting wild bees settled.  There was no more time to take him to the hospital, his body was ice cold and  stiff as hard as a log although wet. He was black and blue all over. The only thing that the officemates recognized, who found him the day after was the native necklace he always wore and the shirt identified as of Ferdinand.  The autopsy result however disclosed that the cause of his death was allergy from insects sting.  Friends pushed each other as to who will reveal this fearful news to his parents.  Unbelievable and they tried to ignore their story but true.  It shattered their world and the pain brought about by his death is beyond words they can relate.

Still another young man who is more closer is Billy.  For several times and occasions visited our church because some youth members were his college classmates.  Billy is junior in college taking up elementary education.  It's obvious he loved small children.  He was a magnet to kids and he always had an exciting story to tell.  Billy was particularly a silent person,  he was a little bit shy which he overcame by his kindness and helpful built-in character. He was studying on a night school. During the day he helped his mother bake and delivered food stuffs to small stores.  At that particular Saturday, he went to the beach store riding on his motorbike.  When he went home at 5:00 in the afternoon, an 18-wheeler truck collided, throwing him and his motor bike on opposite directions, 1-meter apart from the road.  Nobody was around to witness that was why he was found 4 hours later when it was already dark all around  The truck driver escaped but fortunately a man nearby heard a loud sound which he told was like a shot of a magnum caliber.  The man got so nervous, he went to another house and invited a neighbor. They went and investigated what he heard about 4 hours ago.  There, poor Billy was alive but was so mangled,  his ribs were all broken, both legs were gone, face was crashed and tongue was cut, lying on his own blood.  What a pity to describe.  Worst was the small clinics in several towns refused to admit him. It took two hours to finally reached the hospital where an hour later he was pronounced dead.  His family and friends were so shocked at the sudden death of  Billy. Life in their house will be different for as long as Billy's presence is gone.

Their deaths, the separation and emotional distress dominated these three homes  

I felt my words were of little significance for them but not God's word.  The hugs, the touch, the care, the tears and throngs of people carrying comfort brought great reliefs to their troubled souls.  God's word brings salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Stability and lost joy are restored.   Up until this writing, I still pray hard how to act when I have the chance to visit or meet any of these 3 couples.  The process of recovery from their deepest emotional wounds might be long, or might be underway depending on their faith and acceptance.  However, each can contribute to emotional healing when we know how to pray and when our loving presence is felt when they needed most.  Gripping cold empty hands because of loneliness means a lot for the bereaved especially cases like those of Tony, Ferdinand and Billy.  Your presence will do encourage people experiencing the same,  to keep living and move on.  Be very sure to give the Gospel about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If they listen and believe, it will give assurance that in the next life there will be never ending reunions with our loved ones for all eternity.  Let us give out that sure hope!

* I have changed the names of the 3 young people,  now in the beyond.  I am blogging real life stories