THE REARVIEW MIRROR

 




“Try to keep your soul young and quivering

right up to old age.”

George Sand

 

On 3rd of this July, my Mom completed 88 years. She had five sons. Harry, her third son, passed away a couple of years ago. She remembered the birthdays of all her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and most of our relatives. She even remembered the wedding and death anniversaries of most of her near and dear ones…

But, after her fall, two years ago, Mom has been confined to her bed and wheelchair. Her memory is gone, and she cannot recognize anyone…

We four, her surviving sons, decided to meet and celebrate her 88th birthday this time. Her life had been, always, church-centric: Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, Patron saints… Holy Mass, Holy Sacrament, hymns, confessions, priests, Bishops, and the Pope… at home, the daily rosary and angelus… She lived by the Lord’s Prayer – ‘Our Father… Give us our daily bread…”

So, it was befitting to organize a beautiful Mass at home on Mom’s 88th birthday… Three priests and two brothers from the seminary joined her immediate family members. Mom, being the centre of attention, was dressed in a lovely sweater, seated on the wheelchair… She sat through the entire Mass, the lovely choir (presented by her gifted son Rony, his wife Meena, and Meena’s brother Anil) and the meaningful sermon. But, I am sure, Mom was clueless about what was going on around her… Leave alone about her birthday… She was looking at everyone and everything, blankly…

“Happy birthday, Mom,” … “Bless us, Mom”… “Did you recognize me, Mom?”…

Mom responded it all with a blank stare!




                        Mom’s daughters-in-law on her right: Meena, Dora, Anima and Merlyn (Hemangi couldn’t make it)

                        Mom’s sons on her left: Franklin, me, Ronald and Vivek (We missed Late Harry)



Time and Tide do not wait for anyone of us, you see… We age, our memory goes, our beauty fades, we fall ill, and, one day, we die. Well, some of us may think, that Time and Tide ‘will’ wait for us… But, the reality is, that they won’t…

The only sane way to live life, I think, is to live with zest and purpose… with gratitude and compassion, with an attitude of helping and serving others – in whatever way we can. As they say, it’s the ‘life in our years’ and not the ‘number of our years’ that define how we celebrate our lives…

Mom lived her life so...





I will be completing my 65 years, tomorrow. A time to reflect and ask myself: “Did I celebrate my life well?”  “Was there ‘life’ in those years, or only years?”… “Did I say ‘Thank you’ enough?”

Let Time and Tide do their job… Let me do mine…





The Sun is still shining, you see... The rearview is still clear...

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic.: 1. Valerlla Miller 2. Stefan Stefancik

 

Video: SonyMusicindia VEVO

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