WHEN A SAD MOMENT BIRTHS POSITIVE CHANGE

“Mom, dad, hope we’ll get to see more of you in the coming days?” That was the heartbreaking question my 8 years old cousin Aaron, had to ask his parents while we were all in the ward where his younger brother Mark, laid in pain.

Precisely a year ago during my annual office vacation, I was invited by my Uncle, Sam, and his beautiful wife Martha to come spend some few weeks with the family so that their kids can get to know me better.

I felt really honored for the invite and excited to meet the family once again after a long time apart, because I live in a separate State from theirs, and could not get to visit them as much as I wanted to. When I got to the Sam’s family home, I was happily welcomed by their 2 amazing kids – Aaron and Mark. They also had a cute black puppy named Hulk, specially adored by the kids. My time there was, in fact, memorable and fun. The kids had a babysitter that comes to the house every day to watch over them.

Sadly though, I couldn’t help but notice that Uncle Sam and Aunt Martha hardly ever had time to spend with the children, even on weekends. And although I most definitely knew that it was not deliberate on their part (considering that my uncle and his wife are both staff of different banks), I still discussed my observation with him. Uncle Sam’s excuse was that the couple’s ever demanding work does not avail them the luxury of time to spend with the kids. Throughout my stay there, they always leave home very early and return from work very late, oftentimes when the kids must have slept off even. And on weekends, Uncle Sam manages the family’s store business to augment family income, while Aunt Martha uses her weekends to prepare the family for the new week approaching.

I returned to my base to resume work after spending 2 weeks with my uncle and his family. Few days later after I had left, I received a call in the morning from Aunt Martha sounding so disturbed on the phone like something bad had happened. She tearfully informed me that Mark, their 6 years old son, fell from a neighbor’s tree while playing there with his friends the previous day. She added that he was, at the time, on admission at a local hospital located on their street. I tried consoling her on phone the best I could, and assured her that I shall join them at the clinic as soon as I can. When I dropped the call, I immediately postponed all my engagements for the week and obtained an excuse duty from work, before booking the next available flight to be with my uncle’s family.

On getting to the hospital, I met the entire family there and I was told those parents had spent the previous night at the hospital. Mark was fast asleep when I arrived, and he had his left arm neatly bandaged because he dislocated his arm when he fell from the tree.

One thing that struck me in all of these however, was seeing the entire family be together in the same space for hours without either my uncle or his wife having to hurriedly dash out just to meet up with work related engagements. It was so beautiful to behold and I did not even realize that I was staring happily; not until Aunt Martha abruptly interrupted with an announcement about her intention to quit her job the next day, so she could have enough time with the kids and properly care for Mark while he recovers from his injury fast. Suddenly, Aaron, the older son, retorted, “Mom, dad, does that mean we’ll get to see more of you in the coming days”? Aunt Martha gave him a warm embrace and heartily replied, “Yes my love. We’ll most certainly enjoy quality time together henceforth.” “We are so sorry for not being there for you and your brother all these years”, Uncle Sam apologized. At that moment, none of us could hold back emotions as we all got ourselves wrapped in one huge warm embrace. And that was how a sad moment birthed positive change in the loving family of Uncle Sam.