note: This story is from an email circulating in the internet passed on by a friend. I just wanted to share this poignant story so that it may touch more people.
Indeed, we find love in the most unexpected places.
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
"Your son is here," she said to the old man.
She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.
Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the
young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his
hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp
ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All
through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward,
holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength.
Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest
awhile.
He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious
of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen
tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the
cries and moans of the other patients.
Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said
nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.
Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless
hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she
had to do, he waited.
Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the
Marine interrupted her.
"Who was that man?" he asked.
The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.
"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."
"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"
"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his
son, and his son just wasn't here.
When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son,
knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."
I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey.
His Son was Killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What
was this Gentleman's Name?
The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered,
Mr. William Grey.............
The next time someone needs you ..... just be there. Stay.
WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BLESS SOMEONE ELSE IN SOME LITTLE WAY TODAY!
GOD IS SO GOOD.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A Priceless Joy
We often find joy in the most unexpected places. I found mine last Jan. 30, 2009, on the barren Bellarmine field.
That day, I impulsively decided to join the Kite Flying event of Kythe, an organization in school dedicated to helping cancer patients. Although I know cancer is a fatal sickness, its weight never made sense to me until that moment. I arrived in the middle of a mass. I was overwhelmed by the number of children, parents and volunteers who attended the event. I didn’t quite prepare myself in meeting these children all diagnosed with cancer. My eyes wanted to shed tears during the priest’s homily telling about his own encounter with the sickness when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. His mother asked him, “What could I have done which brought this suffering upon me?”
What really? Why do these children have to battle with cancer when, instead, they should be enjoying their youth? Yet, the priest helped me find the answers to my question. Everything happens for a reason. It may not make sense to us but it does for the One who created all of us.
Instead of feeling down, I decided to use the opportunity to, at least, make a child happy. The program did part of that task by entertaining the children with a wacky play by the Kythe officers and a dance number from the Gabay dance troupe. These lifted up everyone’s spirit including mine.
After a short snack (meal!), the kite flying activity finally commenced. (Yippee!)
I had the chance to assist one boy named Benjie. Upon getting the kite, he taught me how to assemble it. It turns out he knows how to fly kites. He was a very hyper and active boy. He was the one running around tugging on his kite while I was running after him far behind. I became his assistant; bringing him water and helping him fly the kite. (hahaha!) It was a really tiring (means I’m getting old already!) but really enjoying experience. It was poignant at the same time. Here I am, sometimes complaining about my problems in life while someone with a much bigger burden, enjoys life by flying a kite.
His mother came to us and made him rest for a while noting that he turned a bit pale. She shared that on Monday, Benjie has to undergo his “chemo”. “Chemo” as in chemotherapy! That caught me off-guard for a second. It took a while for me to process the word and absorb it. All my life, the idea of cancer seemed so surreal to the point that I didn’t expect chemotherapy to exist in my own tiny, limited world.
Yet, that didn’t deter him from flying his kite and playing more games. I discovered that he wanted to color. He also wanted to have tattoos. (I had one of those stick-on tattoos too!) And he wanted to ride the fire truck carrying the participants around Bellarmine field.
Throughout the entire activity, he acted just like any ordinary child would. He enjoyed every moment of it. He laughed and smiled.
At the start of the event, my only goal was to make a child happy. And I hope, his laughter and smiles were evidences of happiness. In the process, I gained a lot more. I learned lessons in life from a child. I was more than contented with the time and the part of himself that he shared with me. I became more joyful in the process of sharing my time and myself to the child.
In time, the memory of that day may eventually blur. Yet, I’ll never forget Benjie, that hyper and strong-willed child, and the joy he has brought into my life even for a short time.
That day, I impulsively decided to join the Kite Flying event of Kythe, an organization in school dedicated to helping cancer patients. Although I know cancer is a fatal sickness, its weight never made sense to me until that moment. I arrived in the middle of a mass. I was overwhelmed by the number of children, parents and volunteers who attended the event. I didn’t quite prepare myself in meeting these children all diagnosed with cancer. My eyes wanted to shed tears during the priest’s homily telling about his own encounter with the sickness when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. His mother asked him, “What could I have done which brought this suffering upon me?”
What really? Why do these children have to battle with cancer when, instead, they should be enjoying their youth? Yet, the priest helped me find the answers to my question. Everything happens for a reason. It may not make sense to us but it does for the One who created all of us.
Instead of feeling down, I decided to use the opportunity to, at least, make a child happy. The program did part of that task by entertaining the children with a wacky play by the Kythe officers and a dance number from the Gabay dance troupe. These lifted up everyone’s spirit including mine.
After a short snack (meal!), the kite flying activity finally commenced. (Yippee!)
I had the chance to assist one boy named Benjie. Upon getting the kite, he taught me how to assemble it. It turns out he knows how to fly kites. He was a very hyper and active boy. He was the one running around tugging on his kite while I was running after him far behind. I became his assistant; bringing him water and helping him fly the kite. (hahaha!) It was a really tiring (means I’m getting old already!) but really enjoying experience. It was poignant at the same time. Here I am, sometimes complaining about my problems in life while someone with a much bigger burden, enjoys life by flying a kite.
His mother came to us and made him rest for a while noting that he turned a bit pale. She shared that on Monday, Benjie has to undergo his “chemo”. “Chemo” as in chemotherapy! That caught me off-guard for a second. It took a while for me to process the word and absorb it. All my life, the idea of cancer seemed so surreal to the point that I didn’t expect chemotherapy to exist in my own tiny, limited world.
Yet, that didn’t deter him from flying his kite and playing more games. I discovered that he wanted to color. He also wanted to have tattoos. (I had one of those stick-on tattoos too!) And he wanted to ride the fire truck carrying the participants around Bellarmine field.
Throughout the entire activity, he acted just like any ordinary child would. He enjoyed every moment of it. He laughed and smiled.
At the start of the event, my only goal was to make a child happy. And I hope, his laughter and smiles were evidences of happiness. In the process, I gained a lot more. I learned lessons in life from a child. I was more than contented with the time and the part of himself that he shared with me. I became more joyful in the process of sharing my time and myself to the child.
In time, the memory of that day may eventually blur. Yet, I’ll never forget Benjie, that hyper and strong-willed child, and the joy he has brought into my life even for a short time.
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