A Mother's Sacrifice
Chapter 1
Mary and John Alexander lived in the quiet town of Galilee with their two young children Oliver and Lily, they were god fearing folk and were always front and centre on a Sunday morning at Church, they never missed a minute of a sermon and were very much big believers and followers of their faith. The Alexander Family had many friends and they were all of a similar upbringing being Christian and believing Jesus was to be cherished and revered for what he did by way of his crucifixion and all of his other acts that still live on today by way of the holy bible.
Mary was 33 years old and it was fair to say life had been good to her, she had two healthy kids with Oliver aged 8 and Lily 5 and with a husband who was the envy of many with his complete devotion to his wife clear for anyone to see. Sceptics would have said it wasn't hard to be in love with Mary because she was the kind of girl any guy wants to bring home to Mum, she had the voice of an angel and definitely looked like one, her long blonde hair always impeccably maintained while her eyes were as blue as the sea and she had the most perfectly formed body any man could ask for, her legs were always striking when exposed in a knee length pencil skirt while she always knew just the right amount of cleavage to show to still look classy. While she may have been a devout follower of god you wouldn't have said she was overbearing in her beliefs, she still found time for anyone who wasn't a churchgoer and was as kind to the people in her inner circle as she was to a homeless man on the street. In fact, she often volunteered at the homeless shelter for the needy, she spent many winter nights there handing out steaming hot bowls of soup and offering a listening ear to anyone who needed it. Mary was just an all round good person.
After a hard day of work one day John came in to see his wife looking very concerned about something. Little did he know she'd had a visit from someone that would change her life.
"Is something wrong my love?" asked John.
"No I'm ok." she replied very unconvincingly. John looked down and noticed his wife seemed to be carrying a bamboo coloured wooden box, it appeared to have a lock on it and was probably about 30 centimetres long and 20 centimetres wide. "What's in the box?" he asked.
"Well I need to talk to you about this actually. I just don't know where to start" worried Mary.
"Just start at the beginning and work your way through" replied John trying to stay calm and find out what his wife wanted to say.
Mary paused briefly before starting. "Well this box contains some very important information. The catch is that you are only allowed to open it after my death"
"Oh my love please tell me you are not dying. I can't lose you I just can't" said a frightened John immediately fearing the worst.
"I'm not dying. I will still be around for a long time yet I hope, I just need to tell you this while I still can" Mary said as calmly as possible before taking John's hand in a move to reassure him.
"Your really scaring me with this talk" he fretted.
"I'm not trying to I promise. It just needs to be said as when I die this box will explain everything. I'm sorry but I just can't say anymore at this point. This has to remain a secret that only I know for now"
"A secret? You know we don't have secrets in this relationship Mary" cautioned John.
"Yes I'm fully aware of that John but you just have to trust me on this" implored Mary.
"I'm not happy about this. You just sit there all ashen faced and expect me to just follow some order to not open up a box as it apparently only has relevance once your dead? That's a pretty big thing to just drop on someone"
"Yes I know sweetheart but this box is bigger than you, it's bigger than us"
"I can't believe this. 10 years of marriage and you can't tell me anymore??"
"I wish I could but I can't. Please,PLEASE just trust me on this and tell me you won't open the box or tell anyone about it until the necessary time" pleaded Mary.
"I don't know what's happened in the past few hours while you have been at home but I'll do it. I love you and I'll respect your wishes" agreed John reluctantly. While he knew his wife would always do the best thing by him and their family the box and it's contents made him feel very uneasy.
2 weeks went by and after things were a little icy for a day or two the box and it's possible contents had now been pretty much forgotten about. It was March the 3rd 2003 and business as usual around the Alexander household as Oliver and Lily prepared for school while John got ready for work. This morning though Mary felt quite ill and was still in her pyjamas looking a bit pale. "You ok babe?" asked John. "Yeah just a little rundown I think" replied Mary. After breakfast they all took off in the family car with John dropping the kids off at school before heading to work while Mary decided to return to bed. She slept for what seemed a few hours then made her way out of bed, as she hopped out she thought something felt weird though, normally the rustle of the sheets would make a bit of a sound but there was none. She walked out into the lounge room and decided a bit of tv was in order so clicked it on... but no sound came out. Straight away she mumbled to herself "It's started to happen". She couldn't hear herself say this though and knew that she was now deaf....
As Mary tried to come to terms with her new condition she wondered how she was going to break it to her family, while many would have thought this was a temporary thing she knew it wasn't, she would never hear anything ever again and this was the start of what would be a very tough road. A road with no hearing. Hours passed and Mary knew she wouldn't be able to hear the rumble of John's car pull up or her boisterous young son Oliver charging in making a racket as he entered, Nor would she hear the sweet sound of her daughter Lily calling out the name "Mum" anymore. It was at this point she had a bit of a sob to herself, it hadn't been long but she was already mourning the lost of her hearing and everything it meant, she knew it would happen but she hoped she would get a bit more time.... Clearly not.
Soon enough the family car pulled up in the driveway, Mary not hearing it but seeing it pull up out the lounge room window which looks out into the driveway. The door turned and Mary saw it was her young son Oliver who came in first, once he saw his mother he greeted her with a hello and asking what's for dinner, something Mary didn't hear. "Mum I asked what's for dinner?" asked a famished Oliver again. "I'm sorry Oliver but I seem to have lost my hearing, I have no idea what you are saying" replied Mary sadly. Oliver looked at his mother strangely, she normally wasn't one for jokes but he naturally thought this was one. "Good one Mum, you nearly got me for a second. So??? What's for dinner??" he asked for a third time. Mary could see her son's lips moving but no sound came out for her, not even the hint of a sound now came into her eardrums. While this was happening Mary's husband John walked in. "Mum is being silly dad, she is saying she can't hear" Oliver told his dad. John naturally had a similar response and thought Mary must be putting this on for some reason. As he went to go up and sort it out though he realised the distress in his wife's face. "What's happened?" he asked. Mary guessed this time what he said and told him she had lost her hearing, she doesn't know how it's just gone. John stood in shock knowing his wife was being serious, she didn't joke around about these sorts of things and if she was then she would have owned up by now. Something was terribly wrong. As they tried to find out more about Mary's sudden deafness the last remaining member of the Alexander family, Lily, came in from the car they had all just been in. She was just as shocked as the others and they immediately took their mother to see a doctor. While they waited they all tried to make their mother feel comfortable by offering her a drink of water and holding her hand for support, they all felt like this would probably be one of those things that would last briefly before being all sorted out. As Mary sat there though she knew this wasn't just a 48 hour thing, she would be deaf for the rest of the life.
After a wait of 45 minutes Mary was called into the doctor's office, Mary couldn't believe how quiet the world now was with no sense of hearing, there was no sound of voices or the phone ringing, even just the clip clop of a person's shoes couldn't be heard. Nothing. As soon as she walked in the doctor went to talk to her but she had no idea what he was saying, she had heard her last words that morning when everyone went to work or school. The doctor inspected her ears then did some tests, all of these proved she had no hearing which baffled him and Mary's family alike. As the consultation finished he came to give the diagnosis to John. "Mr Alexander your wife appears to be fine and in perfect health, I can find no reason as to why she has no hearing, I can only assume it's all in her mind and is psychosomatic as nothing else makes sense" he explained. John stood worried that his wife may have developed some sort of mental illness but knew that whatever the outcome he would stand by her, Mary didn't want to alarm any of her family so she just went along with what they all hoped, all the while knowing the real truth...
Chapter 2
The mood in the Alexander household was a very sombre one for the next week as Mary's loss of hearing took it's toll, she was in tears everyday over it all while her husband and kids struggled to deal with a deaf wife and mother respectively. While obviously upset over it all John started to notice that over the week Mary seemed to be carrying around an air of inevitability over all of this, every time it seemed to be brought up she spoke as if there was no hope and that she knew her hearing wasn't coming back. They had started communicating by writing messages on boards so John wrote to his wife. "Did you know this was going to happen?"
Mary looked at him and knew she had to be at least as honest as she could. "Yes I knew" she replied.
"Why didn't you tell me??"
"I couldn't"
"Why not?"
"I just can't. This is something I have to endure and I can't explain" Mary wrote back. John could see the pain in her eyes but he had to press, he had to know why.
"Even if you knew then how can you go completely deaf in a matter of hours? With no known condition or symptom, it doesn't make sense!"
"It will at some point my love, I promise" replied Mary.
"When??"
"After I pass it will all make perfect sense my dear"
"After you pass? Why are you talking about death again? Has this got something to do with that infernal box?"
"It has nothing to do with the box. That will just give you the answers to questions which will be asked. I can't say anymore so can we please just drop it John, I'm tired and need my rest" pleaded Mary.
Once more John had no idea what on earth was going on but whatever it was he didn't like it, not one bit. After Mary went to bed he ducked over and took out the box from safekeeping, he so desperately wanted to open it but he promised he wouldn't. "This is doing my head in" he said to himself as he put the box back to where it was hidden. He walked into the bedroom he shared with his wife and curled up next to her. "Please tell me this is all worth it, whatever it is" he told his wife. "It is. I'd never put any of you in danger" assured Mary before falling asleep. Little did John know more was to come..
3 years passed and Mary continued her work back at the homeless shelter while the family had now become more than used to Mary's deafness, like any good family they had rallied around her and had all partaken in sign language classes, they could now almost communicate as well as they used to and if anything Mary's deafness had brought them even closer as a family. Sunday night rolled around and this was always a time where they would all sit down to watch a movie, it was a time they all looked forward to and was a time where they would all eat popcorn and just simply enjoy each other's company, the dvd on tonight was Toy story 3 and they all enjoyed it immensely, even Mary who had the benefit of subtitles on the bottom of the screen so she could keep up with what was happening with buzz, woody and the gang. After it finished the kids were sleepy so they wished their mother a good night and headed to bed, Mary and John stayed up a little longer before hitting the hay themselves. When they woke up something would change again though, testing the family and Mary's will even further..
The sun rose and shone brightly through John and Mary's bedroom on the day that was March 3 2006, John was first to wake and after collecting his thoughts sat up in bed and stretched his arms, he looked over and could see his beautiful wife was still lying on her back asleep, he didn't want to wake her so he quietly slid out of bed thinking that he might head to the kitchen and make his wife breakfast in bed before he headed off to work. He cut up some fresh strawberries and located some honey before scouring the cupboards for some pancake mix, he then fired up the pan and made enough for the whole family leaving half for his kids and taking the other half into his bedroom with his wife, he sat there waiting for her to wake up when she finally did. Mary saw her husband, smile beaming carrying a tray of delicious food and thought how wonderful, as she went to rise though and give him a kiss she realised she couldn't, what was going on? Once again she tried to move and couldn't, she then knew this was it, the second phase of what was meant to happen, just like when she lost her hearing she hoped this day wouldn't come for a while but that wasn't to be the case. As she lay there immobile her facial expression changed to worry and looking at her John sensed something was up. "Oh goodness has something happened? John fretted.
"Try not to worry too much but i don't seem to be able to move. Or for that matter feel anything below my chin. I think I'm paralyzed" informed Mary.
"No not again love. Surely not" replied a terrified John. "Can you feel this?" he asked squeezing his wife's foot.
"No I'm sorry. I can't"
"This can't be happening. First your hearing now this? How can it be?" moaned John. "I'm going to have to call an ambulance"
"Won't do much good" quipped Mary.
"Why not????"
"Because this is the way it's meant to be" replied Mary. As she said that she then started having trouble breathing. "Might have to call them actually. Can't breath" whispered Mary as her condition now worsened.
The paramedics arrived and put her on a ventilator to help with her breathing before taking her into hospital. "What was the nature of her accident?" they asked.
"Accident? There was no acccident! She just woke up and she was paralyzed" said an astounded John starting to really freak out.
Once Mary was stabilised and settled the doctor ran a battery of tests before once again concluding there was nothing wrong with her, there was no damage to her spine or any trauma of any kind, once again the only thing that made sense was that this was psychosomatic and her deafness and paralysis were all a figment of her imagination. While John was quite concerned by this diagnosis he couldn't help but think there was something more to this, particularly considering his wife's stance of all of it being inevitable.
After she was settled Mary's family came in, the sight of their mother deaf and completely paralyzed tethered to a respirator was almost too much to bare for Oliver and Lily, they couldn't believe that their mum was now the way she was, why her? Why their mum? While most lines of communication had been cut now with Mary losing her voice due to the introduction of the vent she could still understand what her kids were trying to tell her by way of sign language. As Mary looked on she felt so annoyed at having the kids see her this way, but it was just the way it had to be.
Due to not having any actual spinal injury or trauma Mary was now being considered as mentally ill, normally a person paralyzed from the neck down would go into therapy at this point but with her unique condition the hospital wasn't sure what to do with her. They decided for the next fortnight Mary would be visited by psychologists, psychiatrists and every other mental health expert known to man hoping to unlock the secret, but none of them would be able to get Mary out of her bed and moving. Constantly the experts would ask "Why are you doing this? What has happened?". These questions always got the same answer though "This is just the way it's meant to be" Mary would mouth to them, her voice still absent. They would ask her to elaborate but she couldn't, all she said was that while not happy about her present condition it had to be this way and that was that.
Weeks passed and nothing changed, Mary was still in the same situation and it was decided that they now just had to treat her like any other quadriplegic and they started with speech therapy and range of movement exercises, soon enough Mary got her voice back which was of great relief, she could now communicate a lot more clearer with people doing sign language while she would use her voice to respond and converse, this made her kids happiest of all and they now felt like once again they were connected to their mother, no matter her limitations now..
5 months went by and it was time for Mary to come home, she had baffled all and sundry at the hospital and none of them could work out how this was all happening, she had a new wheelchair that she operated by her mouth, it was quite a swish looking chair and it fitted her terrific physique very stylishly, pads kept her head in place while her long blonde hair was pulled back in a lovely ponytail, her eyes were still as blue as the sky on a good day and she had on a cute white dress with a print of red roses scattered over it, like any other quadriplegic she still needed a collection bag and catheter which was obvious and attached firmly to her shapely right leg, she was as paralyzed as you could get but Mary had now become used to this condition and just wanted to spend as much time with her family as possible. After all, who knew how much time she had left..
Showing posts with label Multiple disabilities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Multiple disabilities. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
A Mother's Sacrifice - Chapters 3 and 4
Chapter 3
18 months on from when Mary found herself paralyzed in bed things started to calm down again for the Alexander Family, the church was a great help and Mary's condition was now just considered one of those unexplainable things, Oliver and Lily seemed to be growing up so fast and John was just as devoted as ever to his wife. One day Lily came home announcing it was time again for parent teacher interviews, Mary decided she would like to go even though she would have no idea what the teacher would be saying, her hearing gone for almost 5 years now. "To some it may be a waste of time but I want to be as much a part of everything as I can" said Mary when announcing she would come along. John and the nurse got Mary ready and soon she was ready to be loaded into the family van, she had on a smart peach top with some white capri pants and white slip ons, as always she looked great and even in her present condition she would have turned heads. After they all piled in the van they were off..
After the short trip they all arrived at the school, Mary had been there regularly in the past but hadn't been for a while and noticed some subtle changes, she still had a mouth control so to anyone looking it appeared that she was working her wheelchair by magic, Lily fired out of the van and followed her mother then John joined them and they all filed into the classroom to see Lily's teacher Ms. Jabonski. Before they could go in they noticed the interviews were running a bit late and there was one family waiting while another was already in there. Mary pulled up close to the classroom and caught the eye of the little girl waiting with her parents like Lily.
"What happened to your Mum?" asked the girl.
"She can't move" replied Lily who had replied to this question a few times when friends had come over.
"Did she have an accident?" pressed the girl.
"No we don't know what happened" answered Lily.
It was at this point the girl's mother turned around. "Stay away from them Allie, her mother is a very troubled woman" she implied looking at Mary.
The rumour had been going around that Mary's paralysis was all in her head and some people thought it was all just a bit too strange. At this point Mary got quite angry, she knew why she was like this and was sick of getting told she was crazy. "Look you insolent woman, this is not all in my head, I am genuinely paralyzed and I have more loyalty and courage in my little finger than you would have in your whole body" barked a furious Mary as loud as she could, the vent interrupting her halfway through. "I'm only going by what I heard" defended the woman before they went in for their turn with Ms.Jabonski cutting short the discussion that had the potential to get quite heated. After the rude woman and her daughter were seen they left, Mary giving them a disapproving look as they went out the door, Lily and John walked through the door then waited for Mary, as she went to the door though she realised her chair wouldn't fit. "Stupid narrow door" exclaimed Mary as she sat immobile in her wheelchair, looking at Ms. Jabonski and her family on the other side of the door, upset even something simple like this was preventing her from doing something, this kind of thing had happened before but it didn't make it any less annoying. "How about we all just speak down the hall?" suggested Ms. Jabonski trying to difuse the situation. "Sounds good" replied Mary almost wanting to break into tears but staying strong. The four of them all moved down the hall and the interview commenced. As per usual the teacher raved about how well Lily was doing at school, John giving Mary sign language to let her know what Ms.Jabonski was saying. After 10 minutes the interview was over and they all moved back towards the van, Mary happy she came but upset a little over how it all transpired, still, she was determined to be in her daughter's life for as long as possible and nothing was going to change that.
More time passed in the Alexander household and Mary continued to take as much interest as she could in her children's lives, Lily had now taken up dancing and enjoyed it immensely, Mary's wheelchair always front and centre at any recital or show. Oliver had taken up tennis and planned on being the next Roger Federer, Mary never missing a match unless she was too unwell to travel which fortunately wasn't too often. Mary and the family all still went to church and their faith grew stronger as every day went by, sure they were upset over the condition of their mother but they didn't question it and just served the lord the only way they knew how.
It soon came up to March 3, 2009, the three year anniversary of Mary being paralyzed and she hoped that wasn't significant, she had noted it was exactly three years of deafness then three years of being a ventilator dependant quadriplegic and she worried there was an ongoing theme, she knew there was one more sacrifice to make and it was fair to say the whole day she sat terribly worried. After dinner Mary thought she had earned a reprieve of sorts, she still seemed to be ok, as she was fed her last morsel at dinner one more thing suddenly happened. "Oh god no. Please god no" shrieked Mary. Her family all seated at the table wondered what had happened, they looked at Mary and she still seemed to be the same but something was clearly wrong. John signed "Are you ok?" This would prove quite useless now though as Mary had now gone blind... "I can't see, help" cried Mary. Her family all rallied around their stricken mother and thought surely not, it would be too cruel, she couldn't be blind. But it was true. Now without sight or hearing she had no way of communicating with others, she couldn't hear her own voice naturally so she had no idea if it was even being heard let alone the answer. Mary couldn't believe it had all happened, she tried to look at the silver lining and that was that she now knew nothing more could happen to her, but that was pretty ineffectual because she couldn't really lose anything else, she was now cut off from the world and pretty much everyone in it, with this realisation she really started to panic, what could she do though? She was a blind deaf ventilator dependant quadriplegic for the rest of her life...
Chapter 4
Upon learning of her blindness once again Mary was taken to hospital to see if they could do anything, just like the other two times though they couldn't do a thing, with her blindness and deafness it was now impossible to communicate in any real way, in these situations braille would often be used but that was useless too as she had no feeling in her hands, Mary was completely shut off from the world. When they all came home from the hospital young Lily couldn't help but ask her dad "Why is this all happening to Mum? It isn't fair"
"I don't know why sweetheart, we just have to support her in any way we can" he replied before Lily started to tear up so John moved over to comfort her by way of a big warm hug.
Oliver looked over quite sad before being brought in to the hug too. None of them could work out why their mother had been struck down by three terrible and separate issues of the highest magnitude.
After the massive shock of now being this way Mary started to worry that she would have no idea if John opened the box or not, she knew that would be disastrous and hoped this wasn't the case. With her voice the only thing still intact she decided to ask him,working out a new way of communication, it only worked for yes or no answers but that was all she needed. "John?" she called out. After a few seconds she felt his hand on her face which meant he was there.
"Have you opened the box yet?" she asked. "Tap once on my forehead for yes and twice for no" she added with this the only way of communicating in any form, her face being the only part of her that still had feeling. She waited anxiously for a response.
Tap, Tap.
"Oh thank goodness" said a relieved Mary.
John had no way to ask a question back but it made him think of the box again, he had respected his wife's wishes and left it alone for 6 years but he desperately wanted to know it's contents, why his wife was like this and what the future would hold if they had one. After pacifying his wife he moved to the box again, he picked it up and mumbled to himself "What on earth is in here?", part of him wanted to just smash the thing or throw it in the fire as it had almost ruined his marriage and the family's lives, sure they would always stick together and they all loved their family member but all of this disability had just reached ridiculous proportions. Once again though John knew he couldn't open it, not now that's for sure, if he was going to open it he should have done it as soon as it presented itself, no he would have to wait, as much as he wanted to open it though it would also mean the passing of his wife, something he didn't want no matter what condition she was in...
Over the course of the next couple of years Mary struggled terribly to communicate with her family, while they all stood by her and tried to let her know they were there for her always she still felt incredibly alone, she couldn't see her son Oliver growing up into his mid to late teens, couldn't hear Lily's sweet voice and possibly worst of all not even feel the warmth of one of their hugs. The days seemed to drag on so long and throughout them she would have no idea of what was going on in the world, she became extremely insular and started to get so depressed over it all she stopped talking.. the last thing she asked her husband John was to tell her when the date of March 3, 2012 came along, more than likely a pivotal day in her life. John agreed to this and when it arrived he would tap on her forehead three times.
More time passed and soon the first day of March was upon them, John was a physical wreck wondering what on Earth would befall his wife in two days time. The kids now, 14 and 17 respectively picked up on their father's worry.
"Dad is something going to happen?" asked Lily.
John didn't want to lie to them but what could happen was almost too much to bear." No I just have the flu. All good" he fibbed. "Just make sure you spend as much time as you can with mother" he added.
The second comment did nothing alleviate their fears and Oliver pressed a little further. "It's Mum isn't it?"
"Yes son. I don't want to alarm you or your sister but it's likely she could pass very soon" said John deciding they probably did need to know although it wasn't certain.
Upon hearing this Oliver started to sob, he could read between the lines and knew his mother probably had days left, they all banded together and hugged, petrified over what could happen to one of the best wife's and mother's anyone has ever known.
The next 48 hours were very solemn, extended family and friends were invited over and told that they don't suspect Mary had much longer, naturally they were surprised by his comment but felt that Mary was ready to pass into the next life, she had endured more pain and torture than anyone could imagine and were firm in their belief that she was the strongest woman to grace the earth in a long time.
After many visits the morning of March 3 arrived, John slept cuddled next to his wife all night not wanting to fall asleep, he had dozed off though and was woken by a sound of a flat line, as the line ran across the screen he knew that was it, his wife had died. John realised he had never tapped on her forehead like she asked and was mortified, he continued to lie next to his now dead wife and openly wept at his failure to warn her, as he sobbed further his mind then turned to all the happy moments that he had experienced with her as well as the bad times, the love of his life was now gone and with it his heart was now completely destroyed. It was at this point the kids walked in, they saw their father's anguish and knew that they had lost their mother, only heaven knew what to but she was gone so the semantics of it all didn't really matter, they all sat on the bed with their mother and were almost inconsolable with their grief, mourning a beautiful wife, mother and friend....
After the death of his wife John was almost like a zombie the next few days, almost not believing this had all really happened. Just 9 years ago they were the happiest family in the world and how that had all been decimated, he was so consumed with grief he hadn't even thought to open the box but as he was clearing up one day he noticed it peeking out from where it was kept. To be honest he hated that box and everything it signified, as soon as the box came into their lives they turn pear shaped, John picked it up and thought about not even seeing what was inside, how could a box that weighed so very little have any of the answers that he wanted? He couldn't possibly see how anything in there would be beneficial to him, as he pondered he remembered his wife had maintained for 9 years that the box would make sense though so he finally opened it.......
John unlocked the box and was surprised by it's contents, all that was in one one solitary a4 piece of paper. "That's it?" he remarked to himself thinking all of this was over some lousy bit of paper. He wasn't sure what to expect but this still riled him. As he looked at the piece of paper though he could see it had been written by his wife, he hadn't seen her handwriting in the 6 years since she was left a quadriplegic and the sight of it brought a well of tears to his eyes. Before reading it he decided to bring in the kids, they were a family now and with Oliver heading off to College next year it was important they all read this together as it affected them all. Once they were all settled John started to read the letter.
"If you are reading this letter that means I have passed into the next life, and if I haven't then we're in trouble. 2 weeks before this all started and my deafness I was visited by God, he told me that on March 3rd 2003 you would all die from a head on collision involving a speeding driver. Upon hearing this I was beside myself, I knew I couldn't live without you all so I threw myself at his mercy, I desperately pleaded with him to see if there was anything I could possibly do to stop this occurring and he told me yes. Just like he had endured pain and sacrifice by carrying his own cross and being crucified he told me you could all live if I did the same. For the salvation of three lives I would have to make three sacrifices of the highest magnitude, this being my ability to hear,move and see. He never gave me any specific times that this would happen but told me to look out for a sequence of threes. I know my disabilities would have placed a great strain on our family but it was the only way to keep it together, to my children Oliver and Lily, you deserve long and happy lives and not to die aged 8 and 5 while John, my love for you has never and never will fail, even in death. The only provision on all of this was that the box is never opened until my passing otherwise the deal would be null and void and a new destiny would be created for us all. I hope you all understand why I did this and know that all three of you will be in my heart forever, whether I be walking this world or not. I love you all, Love Mum, Mary....."
Upon reading this John and the kids realised what unbelievable sacrifices their spouse and mother had given up for them. If it was even possible they loved her even more in death than they did when she was living, knowing how much she did for them. While some may have said anyone would do the same they knew that Mary wouldn't have even thought about it, she would have agreed to it right on the spot, even if it meant something even more painful. "Your mother truly is the most wonderful woman to have graced this earth" said a choked up John. The three of them banded around each other and hugged, all of them with tears streaming like waterfalls over the truly remarkable woman that was Mary Alexander. Over the next couple of months their hearts were very heavy but eventually they had to move past their grief and move on with their lives, it's what Mary would have wanted and it was why she gave up her own life for them.
Over the course of the next few years Oliver went off to university while Lily finished high school, John continued to work and never remarried, honouring the memory of his dead wife. Soon enough Lily ended up at university where she met a young man and after a long romance they settled down to have a family. When thinking of baby names Lily knew there was only one choice for her first born, the name of her mother, Mary. Mary was born 7 pounds 8 ounces and was as healthy as could be, as she grew up she never had any complaints and Lily couldn't help but think her mother was looking down on here from Heaven making sure she had as happy a life as her, for one never makes as big a sacrifice as a mother does for her children.....
The End
18 months on from when Mary found herself paralyzed in bed things started to calm down again for the Alexander Family, the church was a great help and Mary's condition was now just considered one of those unexplainable things, Oliver and Lily seemed to be growing up so fast and John was just as devoted as ever to his wife. One day Lily came home announcing it was time again for parent teacher interviews, Mary decided she would like to go even though she would have no idea what the teacher would be saying, her hearing gone for almost 5 years now. "To some it may be a waste of time but I want to be as much a part of everything as I can" said Mary when announcing she would come along. John and the nurse got Mary ready and soon she was ready to be loaded into the family van, she had on a smart peach top with some white capri pants and white slip ons, as always she looked great and even in her present condition she would have turned heads. After they all piled in the van they were off..
After the short trip they all arrived at the school, Mary had been there regularly in the past but hadn't been for a while and noticed some subtle changes, she still had a mouth control so to anyone looking it appeared that she was working her wheelchair by magic, Lily fired out of the van and followed her mother then John joined them and they all filed into the classroom to see Lily's teacher Ms. Jabonski. Before they could go in they noticed the interviews were running a bit late and there was one family waiting while another was already in there. Mary pulled up close to the classroom and caught the eye of the little girl waiting with her parents like Lily.
"What happened to your Mum?" asked the girl.
"She can't move" replied Lily who had replied to this question a few times when friends had come over.
"Did she have an accident?" pressed the girl.
"No we don't know what happened" answered Lily.
It was at this point the girl's mother turned around. "Stay away from them Allie, her mother is a very troubled woman" she implied looking at Mary.
The rumour had been going around that Mary's paralysis was all in her head and some people thought it was all just a bit too strange. At this point Mary got quite angry, she knew why she was like this and was sick of getting told she was crazy. "Look you insolent woman, this is not all in my head, I am genuinely paralyzed and I have more loyalty and courage in my little finger than you would have in your whole body" barked a furious Mary as loud as she could, the vent interrupting her halfway through. "I'm only going by what I heard" defended the woman before they went in for their turn with Ms.Jabonski cutting short the discussion that had the potential to get quite heated. After the rude woman and her daughter were seen they left, Mary giving them a disapproving look as they went out the door, Lily and John walked through the door then waited for Mary, as she went to the door though she realised her chair wouldn't fit. "Stupid narrow door" exclaimed Mary as she sat immobile in her wheelchair, looking at Ms. Jabonski and her family on the other side of the door, upset even something simple like this was preventing her from doing something, this kind of thing had happened before but it didn't make it any less annoying. "How about we all just speak down the hall?" suggested Ms. Jabonski trying to difuse the situation. "Sounds good" replied Mary almost wanting to break into tears but staying strong. The four of them all moved down the hall and the interview commenced. As per usual the teacher raved about how well Lily was doing at school, John giving Mary sign language to let her know what Ms.Jabonski was saying. After 10 minutes the interview was over and they all moved back towards the van, Mary happy she came but upset a little over how it all transpired, still, she was determined to be in her daughter's life for as long as possible and nothing was going to change that.
More time passed in the Alexander household and Mary continued to take as much interest as she could in her children's lives, Lily had now taken up dancing and enjoyed it immensely, Mary's wheelchair always front and centre at any recital or show. Oliver had taken up tennis and planned on being the next Roger Federer, Mary never missing a match unless she was too unwell to travel which fortunately wasn't too often. Mary and the family all still went to church and their faith grew stronger as every day went by, sure they were upset over the condition of their mother but they didn't question it and just served the lord the only way they knew how.
It soon came up to March 3, 2009, the three year anniversary of Mary being paralyzed and she hoped that wasn't significant, she had noted it was exactly three years of deafness then three years of being a ventilator dependant quadriplegic and she worried there was an ongoing theme, she knew there was one more sacrifice to make and it was fair to say the whole day she sat terribly worried. After dinner Mary thought she had earned a reprieve of sorts, she still seemed to be ok, as she was fed her last morsel at dinner one more thing suddenly happened. "Oh god no. Please god no" shrieked Mary. Her family all seated at the table wondered what had happened, they looked at Mary and she still seemed to be the same but something was clearly wrong. John signed "Are you ok?" This would prove quite useless now though as Mary had now gone blind... "I can't see, help" cried Mary. Her family all rallied around their stricken mother and thought surely not, it would be too cruel, she couldn't be blind. But it was true. Now without sight or hearing she had no way of communicating with others, she couldn't hear her own voice naturally so she had no idea if it was even being heard let alone the answer. Mary couldn't believe it had all happened, she tried to look at the silver lining and that was that she now knew nothing more could happen to her, but that was pretty ineffectual because she couldn't really lose anything else, she was now cut off from the world and pretty much everyone in it, with this realisation she really started to panic, what could she do though? She was a blind deaf ventilator dependant quadriplegic for the rest of her life...
Chapter 4
Upon learning of her blindness once again Mary was taken to hospital to see if they could do anything, just like the other two times though they couldn't do a thing, with her blindness and deafness it was now impossible to communicate in any real way, in these situations braille would often be used but that was useless too as she had no feeling in her hands, Mary was completely shut off from the world. When they all came home from the hospital young Lily couldn't help but ask her dad "Why is this all happening to Mum? It isn't fair"
"I don't know why sweetheart, we just have to support her in any way we can" he replied before Lily started to tear up so John moved over to comfort her by way of a big warm hug.
Oliver looked over quite sad before being brought in to the hug too. None of them could work out why their mother had been struck down by three terrible and separate issues of the highest magnitude.
After the massive shock of now being this way Mary started to worry that she would have no idea if John opened the box or not, she knew that would be disastrous and hoped this wasn't the case. With her voice the only thing still intact she decided to ask him,working out a new way of communication, it only worked for yes or no answers but that was all she needed. "John?" she called out. After a few seconds she felt his hand on her face which meant he was there.
"Have you opened the box yet?" she asked. "Tap once on my forehead for yes and twice for no" she added with this the only way of communicating in any form, her face being the only part of her that still had feeling. She waited anxiously for a response.
Tap, Tap.
"Oh thank goodness" said a relieved Mary.
John had no way to ask a question back but it made him think of the box again, he had respected his wife's wishes and left it alone for 6 years but he desperately wanted to know it's contents, why his wife was like this and what the future would hold if they had one. After pacifying his wife he moved to the box again, he picked it up and mumbled to himself "What on earth is in here?", part of him wanted to just smash the thing or throw it in the fire as it had almost ruined his marriage and the family's lives, sure they would always stick together and they all loved their family member but all of this disability had just reached ridiculous proportions. Once again though John knew he couldn't open it, not now that's for sure, if he was going to open it he should have done it as soon as it presented itself, no he would have to wait, as much as he wanted to open it though it would also mean the passing of his wife, something he didn't want no matter what condition she was in...
Over the course of the next couple of years Mary struggled terribly to communicate with her family, while they all stood by her and tried to let her know they were there for her always she still felt incredibly alone, she couldn't see her son Oliver growing up into his mid to late teens, couldn't hear Lily's sweet voice and possibly worst of all not even feel the warmth of one of their hugs. The days seemed to drag on so long and throughout them she would have no idea of what was going on in the world, she became extremely insular and started to get so depressed over it all she stopped talking.. the last thing she asked her husband John was to tell her when the date of March 3, 2012 came along, more than likely a pivotal day in her life. John agreed to this and when it arrived he would tap on her forehead three times.
More time passed and soon the first day of March was upon them, John was a physical wreck wondering what on Earth would befall his wife in two days time. The kids now, 14 and 17 respectively picked up on their father's worry.
"Dad is something going to happen?" asked Lily.
John didn't want to lie to them but what could happen was almost too much to bear." No I just have the flu. All good" he fibbed. "Just make sure you spend as much time as you can with mother" he added.
The second comment did nothing alleviate their fears and Oliver pressed a little further. "It's Mum isn't it?"
"Yes son. I don't want to alarm you or your sister but it's likely she could pass very soon" said John deciding they probably did need to know although it wasn't certain.
Upon hearing this Oliver started to sob, he could read between the lines and knew his mother probably had days left, they all banded together and hugged, petrified over what could happen to one of the best wife's and mother's anyone has ever known.
The next 48 hours were very solemn, extended family and friends were invited over and told that they don't suspect Mary had much longer, naturally they were surprised by his comment but felt that Mary was ready to pass into the next life, she had endured more pain and torture than anyone could imagine and were firm in their belief that she was the strongest woman to grace the earth in a long time.
After many visits the morning of March 3 arrived, John slept cuddled next to his wife all night not wanting to fall asleep, he had dozed off though and was woken by a sound of a flat line, as the line ran across the screen he knew that was it, his wife had died. John realised he had never tapped on her forehead like she asked and was mortified, he continued to lie next to his now dead wife and openly wept at his failure to warn her, as he sobbed further his mind then turned to all the happy moments that he had experienced with her as well as the bad times, the love of his life was now gone and with it his heart was now completely destroyed. It was at this point the kids walked in, they saw their father's anguish and knew that they had lost their mother, only heaven knew what to but she was gone so the semantics of it all didn't really matter, they all sat on the bed with their mother and were almost inconsolable with their grief, mourning a beautiful wife, mother and friend....
After the death of his wife John was almost like a zombie the next few days, almost not believing this had all really happened. Just 9 years ago they were the happiest family in the world and how that had all been decimated, he was so consumed with grief he hadn't even thought to open the box but as he was clearing up one day he noticed it peeking out from where it was kept. To be honest he hated that box and everything it signified, as soon as the box came into their lives they turn pear shaped, John picked it up and thought about not even seeing what was inside, how could a box that weighed so very little have any of the answers that he wanted? He couldn't possibly see how anything in there would be beneficial to him, as he pondered he remembered his wife had maintained for 9 years that the box would make sense though so he finally opened it.......
John unlocked the box and was surprised by it's contents, all that was in one one solitary a4 piece of paper. "That's it?" he remarked to himself thinking all of this was over some lousy bit of paper. He wasn't sure what to expect but this still riled him. As he looked at the piece of paper though he could see it had been written by his wife, he hadn't seen her handwriting in the 6 years since she was left a quadriplegic and the sight of it brought a well of tears to his eyes. Before reading it he decided to bring in the kids, they were a family now and with Oliver heading off to College next year it was important they all read this together as it affected them all. Once they were all settled John started to read the letter.
"If you are reading this letter that means I have passed into the next life, and if I haven't then we're in trouble. 2 weeks before this all started and my deafness I was visited by God, he told me that on March 3rd 2003 you would all die from a head on collision involving a speeding driver. Upon hearing this I was beside myself, I knew I couldn't live without you all so I threw myself at his mercy, I desperately pleaded with him to see if there was anything I could possibly do to stop this occurring and he told me yes. Just like he had endured pain and sacrifice by carrying his own cross and being crucified he told me you could all live if I did the same. For the salvation of three lives I would have to make three sacrifices of the highest magnitude, this being my ability to hear,move and see. He never gave me any specific times that this would happen but told me to look out for a sequence of threes. I know my disabilities would have placed a great strain on our family but it was the only way to keep it together, to my children Oliver and Lily, you deserve long and happy lives and not to die aged 8 and 5 while John, my love for you has never and never will fail, even in death. The only provision on all of this was that the box is never opened until my passing otherwise the deal would be null and void and a new destiny would be created for us all. I hope you all understand why I did this and know that all three of you will be in my heart forever, whether I be walking this world or not. I love you all, Love Mum, Mary....."
Upon reading this John and the kids realised what unbelievable sacrifices their spouse and mother had given up for them. If it was even possible they loved her even more in death than they did when she was living, knowing how much she did for them. While some may have said anyone would do the same they knew that Mary wouldn't have even thought about it, she would have agreed to it right on the spot, even if it meant something even more painful. "Your mother truly is the most wonderful woman to have graced this earth" said a choked up John. The three of them banded around each other and hugged, all of them with tears streaming like waterfalls over the truly remarkable woman that was Mary Alexander. Over the next couple of months their hearts were very heavy but eventually they had to move past their grief and move on with their lives, it's what Mary would have wanted and it was why she gave up her own life for them.
Over the course of the next few years Oliver went off to university while Lily finished high school, John continued to work and never remarried, honouring the memory of his dead wife. Soon enough Lily ended up at university where she met a young man and after a long romance they settled down to have a family. When thinking of baby names Lily knew there was only one choice for her first born, the name of her mother, Mary. Mary was born 7 pounds 8 ounces and was as healthy as could be, as she grew up she never had any complaints and Lily couldn't help but think her mother was looking down on here from Heaven making sure she had as happy a life as her, for one never makes as big a sacrifice as a mother does for her children.....
The End
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