SEQUEL TO DEATH OF AN OLD LADY

SEQUEL TO DEATH OF AN OLD LADY
August 11, 2002

During the preparation of the Old Lady’s dead body all her nephews and nieces on her first husband were in full assistance, obviously sincere and genuinely concerned. A daughter of her second cousin offered the burial dress that she anticipated and reserved for the occasion a long time ago. She was laid in a greatly discounted modest coffin. Most of her previous servants and helpers were present to give their helping hands. Unfortunately most of t he blood relatives were conspicuously absent except for one nephew who appeared during the mass and joined the funeral procession.

Her daughter, together with a son arrived on the fourth day of the wake, haggard and deeply affected. She was properly oriented on the circumstances that took place but was completely stressed by the tragic death of her mother whose dream to see the release of her son from detention did not materialize.

After the ninth day of prayers for the Old Lady her son was brought back to the provincial jail with very uncertain fate. The daughter shall stay for two weeks to settle everything. How she would untangle the confusing knots of problems is certainly a Herculean job.

The Bank Manager offered an option to redeem the already foreclosed house. He suggested that it be re-loaned to another bank until she is able to save enough money to redeem it or sell it herself. The other option offered by another bank official was to sell the property outright on condition that the garage, with a room over it, is retained in preparation for the possible release of the detained son.

Their cousins, who before death of the lady were wilting to settle the case amicably, were now ominously quiet after sharing a donation of fifteen thousand pesos for the funeral expenses.

In a few days the Old Lady’s daughter and her son are going back to America to leave behind a problem that probably needs a Solomonic solution. What will happen next to this tragic story is everybody’s guess but everyone could learn a lesson or two from the unhappy incident.

Human kindness is not enough to guarantee a secured happy future as this Old Lady learned too late. She was too kind and too trusting to a fault. It eventually led her to a series of misfortunes.

A second glory in marital life is not easy to attain. Cautious and thorough evaluation of events and prevailing circumstances should be highly considered before indulging in second marriage.

A wrong perception of love and a misguided method of child rearing could be disastrous as often proven by events that generally lead to tragedy.

Murphy’s Law is a reality: “Worst things can happen at the worst possible time”.

Looking closely at the Old Lady’s daughter I could feel the depth of her sorrow, the magnitude of her emotional pain and the uncertainty of her own future but I also noted that she was not very kin about her spirituality. She seems carefree even about the minimum requirements asked of every Roman Catholic follower. Her son wasn’t much different. He claimed not to belong to any religious organization or sect though he is not an atheist.

The series of unhappy experiences of the Old Lady’s daughter possibly dampened her religiosity. She admitted to be a devout Catholic during her younger days but like her mother she gradually got cold to religious rituals probably because her petitions during her prayers were not totally granted and she felt ignored by God . Nothing could be more terrible than a repetition of another tragic story that only God’s Mercy could prevent.

NOTE: The son of the Old Lady was eventually released and cared for by the relatives of his father. But later he got sick and eventually died. Later the second wife of his uncle who sued him for murder also died of a ling erring illness. Now they are all in the next dimension of existence: The Brother of the Old Lady who was allegedly murdered (the victim) by his Son (the suspect) as (“witnessed”) by the second wife. I hope that God would forgive them all and accept them in His bosom.