A true love story

he came with excess baggage and a past

she accepted and embraced all.

he laid his heart beneath her feet

and she laid it to rest beside hers.

he took her to his family

they loved her as their own.

and then he brought her to his friends

and she captivated them all.

and their love yielded three seeds

to form one happy family.

and as they watched their future grow

it seemed that they had it all.

he published a weekly magazine

and she was with him every step.

and when all thru the night he worked

she stayed up with him and was his muse.

and on weekends the whole family

would all troop to the presses,

where they all pitched in for daddy's magazine,

right from the eldest to the youngest.

and then one day the clouds gathered-

her kidneys started to fail,

and leaving the children with his family,

they both went to Vellore.

and there they learnt the awful truth

she needed a transplant.

he took an auto to the nearest PCO

and called his sister's home.

there he finally released the tears

that he did'nt want her to see.

and his sister wept with him,

and they both prayed for her.

it was late and the owner wanted to close,

but he stayed open 'cos of his obvious anguish.

but the auto driver could not wait

and he left him stranded there.

it was late and raining too heavily

for him to find another auto,

so he walked back in the pouring rain

to the woman who waited for him.

and they sent for their young children

and she resolved to be strong for them.

they were too young to face sickness,

and she wanted to spare them the pain.

so tho' the doctor forbade her to leave her room

she defied him and stood up straight.

she was smiling when her children arrived,

and she greeted them at the hospital gates.

she wanted a family holiday

and forced her body to make it so.

she played and strolled on the beaches with them

and not a single cry escaped her lips.

his family promised them funds,

her family promised a donor.

and so they all rallied round

trying to save the woman they loved so well.

he tried somehow to contribute,

by secretly mortgaging the land that his father left him,

and tried his best to bear the pain

of seeing her laid so low.

and tho' the transplant was a success

misfortune dogged their paths.

the doctors made another diagnosis,

she had the dreaded cancer cells.

they forced themselves to stay strong

and never let their babies see,

the tears they shed together

when the doctors gave up on her.

they finally flew home defeated.

he pushed her wheelchair slowly out.

but there they saw their first miracle-

a congregation of those whose lives their love had touched.

they came in two busloads and more

with banners saying, "welcome home".

and she turned defeat into victory

by rising unaided from her wheelchair.

and then the second miracle-

a prayer that gave her respite.

she regained some of her strength

and it seemed the clouds had passed.

once more they were a family,

and on Christmas they rejoiced.

celebrating their love and Jesus' birth-

the greatest gifts of all.

and she made their favourite Christmas dishes

and they opened their home to all their friends.

she took pictures of everyone

and the photos never betrayed her hand's tremor.

for death still refused to give her up,

and this Christmas was their family's last.

her lovely tresses slowly fell out

as cancer wormed its way back in.

they both watched with bittersweet pride

when their daughter had her first Sacrament.

this was to be the final time

they all went to Church as a family.

back to the hospital she went

and once again he was awed.

for still she refused to let her babies see

the pain that held her down.

she told her babies to go home,

she soon would join them there.

and he struggled to hold back his tears

for he knew she won't be coming home.

that night he finally learnt the truth

that love meant letting go,

and he watched her as she fought her last battle,

and death came to claim her for his own.

she took his strength with her when she left,

his sun had set, his footsteps faltered.

his flesh still roamed the earth, its true,

but his soul, she took with her.

he tried his best for his babies,

but his muse had left and his work suffered.

he tried to be both mother and father,

but all he felt was 'alone'.

he'd take his trusty lantern with him,

and to her grave he'd go.

and there he'd sit and talk with her,

till dawn forced him to go home.

his friends urged him to move on,

and introduced him to other women,

but his heart kept yearning for its twin

and he could not make the break.

till finally he found new friends

who helped him drown his sorrows,

he'd drink himself into oblivion

trying to run from a life without her.

the final blow that broke his back-

his landlord came to him.

they had to leave their beloved house

because renovations were due .

the pain of leaving their beloved home-

where they had laughed and cried and dreamt,

the home that she had loved so much-

it shattered the little dreams and hopes he had left.

he grew old in a matter of weeks,

and he made his way out of town.

to the place where they ate too little

and drank way too, too much.

this time he knew things were different,

he had pushed himself too far.

his blood sugar plummetted,

and he knew he had made a mistake.

he told the taxi driver to be quick,

to take him to his best friend.

but too late, when he reached his friend,

he had already spoken his last.

his spirit broke free of its earthly prison,

and his body was laid in her grave.

but his soul rejoiced because the song was true:

'"there are no more tears in Heaven".

their bewildered babies felt adrift,

but love still works its miracles.

his family took them in, one by one,

and loved them as their own.

and the eldest son was loved by one,

who says, "i'm sorry that i hurt you,

and this is my way of apologising,

by re-telling the story you told me".