The plight of a mother

My dad is the Deputy superintendent of his hospital and hence quite a variety of people come to our home for advice or suggestions. This weekend, in the morning I opened the door to find an old lady asking for my dad. I replied to her that my dad was sleeping (he takes his time to get up on Sundays) and hearing that, she then asked for my mom (who is also a doctor and would be able to assist her as well). I called my mom and stood aside wondering at what peril had brought the old lady to my house at 7.30 am in the morning. I soon came to know.......
The old lady told my mom that she needed a death certificate. She said it in a casual manner which brought a chill to my bones and truly startled me. But I should have seen the grief behind the casual facade, because after saying that one statement, the old lady broke down into tears. It was as if she had promised herself to be calm while fulfilling her duties to her dead loved one, but I guess she realized the finality of her statement and couldn't control the flood of emotions that threatened her senses.
And what mother could have? For it was her daughter who had passed on leaving her behind to face the sorrow of loneliness that is inevitable after the departure of a loved one. She wept as she told us that her daughter had become skin and bone due to her ailment and that she had not been able to even consume water. Her voice was heavy with grief, her shoulders bent, her eyes wet and I saw her pain, heard it, but I could not think of a single thing to say. And I realized that she just wanted to be heard and so we remained silent and acknowledged her pain, her courage and silently prayed for her daughter and her family.
The old lady left after a while but not before she had left an indelible print on my mind. I wondered, and i wondered....
Imagine the pain of seeing a loved one fade right in front of your eyes, imagine seeing your beloved experience pain without being able to do anything about it because everyone told you there was nothing else left to do. Imagine the ache in your heart when your beloved is forced to give up food and drink and cannot intake anything and all you can do is hold her hand and pray. You feel so helpless and angry that someone you love is suffering, that this person that you love hasn't committed any error to suffer this way but was inflicted by disease either by accident or bad luck or just randomly. God, I swear I just couldn't stop thinking about it............
I just want to dedicate this small space on my blog, and a large space in my heart to all those who have lost loved ones..........please be strong because when you feel pain, i see it and feel it too, maybe not as much as you do, but enough to know how it feels, enough to care, enough to admire all those who pick up their lives and move on after horrendous losses, enough................
God bless you all.

Dear mother, when you cry,
and your eyes brim with sorrow;
Dear mother, when you weep,
for those who will not see tomorrow,
I ache inside and wonder
at the injustice of it all,
I grow angry at your loss
for you deserve much more than this grief laden upon your soul.
For who will ease those lonely nights,
that you spend reliving the past?
Who will caress and calm your agitated soul,
when all are asleep but for you, the nights don't seem to pass.
And one day you'll look back after the daily chores of the day are done,
and you'll see how everyone around you has changed;
All of a sudden they will all seem strangers,
and you will look at yourself and wonder when you were left behind.
But i hope you don't surrender,
I hope you achieve peace,
God, i hope i can see your smile again,
Radiant as it once was, shining down upon me.