There are certain situations in life where the message carried is far more valuable than the situation itself. Yes this is one such real life juncture that’s set my reflections rolling.
Most of my friends know that my two sons have made America their home. I as a mother have for decades faced weird questions at times, when people ask with concern about my future. However I have always allowed the wind of destiny to navigate my flow of life.
I believe a person with values of life will know when to hold and when to let go. Here’s a real life scenario that my two sons are handling at this moment and it makes me wonder how such values brewed in them.
Our elder son had gone to the US way back in 2008 just after his 12th standard examination, when actually a person in not moulded to full maturity to survive independently in a foreign country. Yes American kids also prefer to do the same in their own country with parental support in need. Here its a Indian boy brought up in a protected environment but nurturing beautiful dreams. Back up stands a mother who values every ambition of her children with huge trust, faith and hard work. This identical scenario was repeated in 2015 after 7 years when my younger son expressed his desire to pursue a similar dream.
Back home is this single mom believing that she perhaps has done everything in proper shape but unaware about what values she might have nurtured in them.
Now coming to the situation that triggered my reflection. When Raja our older son was an undergrad student he had met a professor in school who’s super brilliant but like many other geniuses his teacher was somewhat lacking in social skills. He retired over a decade ago, but he has no family. A newyorker settled in Kansas city with no immediate family is the real life scenario. So it’s obvious that Jeet our younger son never met him as his teacher. But I am at times amazed to see that my two boys and their wives are his only immediate family now. They always check on his groceries, medication and other essentials from time to time and they are just a phone call away in times of his distress. They sometimes cook meals for him and give him company when he’s is feeling lonely. They play board games and read books. Lately Saul has been on oxygen therapy round the clock as COPD has over powered his lungs injured by cigarette smoking through out his life.The emergency phone numbers for Mr Saul are the numbers of my two boys. Saul has even written that after his demise his formalities will be carried out by these two bothers.
This for me is really a make believe scenario where a ex student and his younger brother are the only next in kin of a great scholar and an asset of the country for all his scientific contributions.
Today Saul is in his death bed and my elder son has rushed back from a work trip from Albuquerque and Jeet who just got married a fortnight ago is also back from his honeymoon in Hawaii. They are trying to be by his side as long as possible either by turns or together. Their hope is that Saul does not take his last breath alone.
So here are the two brothers raised in a home far away by a lonely mother who always jittered to ask herself if everything was moving right.
May reflection today is “trust in destiny and do your best” .