Parent's love beyond the grave

 

Photo Credit: Freepik.com 

Why I lost my parents? Why is the God only unfair to me? Why do troubles only follow my family members around?

These are the thought-provoking questions that frequently pop into our mind when some of us lose our parents and loved ones. 

But this is what Jacques, 13, doesn't bother himself about. Being a very mischievous boy of the neighbourhood, he is up to bullying someone . Suddenly, his eyes rest on a boy in the nearby shop. He plans of snatching the plastic bag, filled with snacks, which could fuel his appetite.

Not knowing what is going to happen, the boy sits on the saddle of the bike, wears the helmet and gets ready to leave when in no time, Jacques tiptoes and forcibly snatches the plastic bag. The boy cries at the top of his voice and leaves.

As the sun sets, Jacques swiftly finishes the snacks,wipes his mouth and heads towards his home.

Jacques's parents expired in an incident when he was a neonate. Beside his parents, it was his uncle who looked after him. This moved his Uncle (Mr. Laurent) as to how an infant would survive without his parents. Despite being an orphan, Jacques never felt the absence of his parents nor was he sent to the orphanage. Mr. Laurent showed him fatherly as well as motherly tenderness, love and care.

After Jacques came to teenage, he grew very indolent. He never bothered to go to school. Whenever he was dropped in, he would not study and bothered not to go if his uncle went to his fields very early. 

He spent his entire time playing in the streets and public places with the rowdies of the neighbourhood. 

Unsettled and perturbed by his capricious behaviour, Mr. Laurent asked him to accompany him in the fields but to no avail. Observing that his efforts aren't bearing fruits, Mr. Laurent left advising him. 

Jacques followed this course continuously on many years, till one day as he was busy with his nasty habits and playing with his companions, he heard from someone that his uncle, Mr. Laurent, had fainted owing to the scorching heatwave in the fields and he was rushed to the hospital.

On hearing this, a cloud of distress and anxiety followed his mind when he thought what would become of him, if Mr. Laurent, like his parents leaves him alone. In no time, he hailed a cab and dashed towards the hospital. 

" Your uncle has grown so weak and there are a little chances that he would be with you no less than one month or so." The doctor told him in despair.

Jacques was overwhelmed with guilt. 

From that day onwards, he left playing in the streets and looked after his uncle. 

"If you don't take all the doses of your medicine, you might get sick again." He would often go on with this when Mr. Laurent hesitated to take the medicines regularly.

" My son, listen to me carefully. Your mother died when you were an infant while your father died after twenty days of your mother's demise. Before meeting the maker, your father exhorted me to not make you feel the absence of your mother and father." Mr. Laurent recalled as a set of memories splashed across his mind.

My parents have left me physically, but their pieces of advice, counselling, love and encouragement are always with me. 

"I must give you decent schooling and make you a gynecologist so that you could administer help to the uneducated females of our village who are in the risk of pregnancy related problems," Counselled his uncle," Your parents said they may not be with you physically but their love and pieces of advice will always shade you."

After a month, Jacques's uncle also died, leaving his nephew behind. Jacques was art and part because of the demise of Mr. Laurent. If asked by anyone about his parents , he would say that his parents are at home and with him.

To realise his parent's dream, he started working in a garage and went to school regularly. He toiled to the breaking point at ungodly hours of the night and became the city's senior gynecologist. 

As World Parents Day was fast approaching, the school, where Jacques was enrolled, arranged a school reunion. Being one of the brightest students of the school, he was also invited. 

Now that jacques lived with his family and that the reunion had been arranged on international Parents day, he was asked about his parents too.

He would say, " My parents are with me." Dismayed, his friends would enquire how?

" It has been many years that my parents have left me physically, but their pieces of advice, counselling, love and encouragement are always with me. That's is why, I say that my sweet parents are always there for me when I am in trouble and when I am happy." 

Dear friends,

Like Jacques, many of us have left our beloved heroes( our parents) in accidents, wars, catastrophic disasters, and now recent one, Corona scarce. But let me remain optimistic that it is better not to mourn for their death and stand firm and tall to realize their dreams.

They are always with us, if not physically, but their suggestions and encouragement will always help us in the face of opposition and troubles.

Let's dedicate this year's international Parents day to all those fathers and mothers who lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.