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
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