It is again the Holy Week. And this year the family decided to spend it at Aunt Grace's house. There is a reason for it. Aunt Grace's grand daughter, the little one - Lisa. Lisa is 9 months old now. This would be the first Easter after her birth and it was Aunt Grace's pleasure to invite everybody to her house. This is for the second time the whole family is assembling in the house since Aunt Grace's husband expired three years ago. The first one was for her son's wedding two years before. That time she was reluctant to mingle with everybody. But ever since Lisa had come to her life, Aunt Grace has got refreshed and has again started a social life. This is why small children are called magicians. They have big powers which can overturn many lives.
Sharon - Aunt Shirley's daughter is also coming this time. She has not visited her native place for the past six months. She is doing her final year B.Sc Nursing in a college at Mangalore and had been very much busy with her academic activities and exams. She has vivid memories of little Lisa whom she had seen six months ago and was eagerly waiting to see her again. Sharon had a vital role to play in the marriage of Lisa's parents. Sharon knew Lisa's mother Anna from her pre-university days. Anna was her senior at higher secondary and after that Anna had joined a college in the city for B.Sc Maths. Aunt Grace's son Henry was in love with Anna, but was reluctant to propose her or forward this matter via proper channel. Sharon came to know about her cousin's crush for Anna somehow and decided to talk with her. She paved the way for a meeting between the two and even took the matter to Aunt Grace who formally asked the hand of Anna from her parents. The marriage took place immediately after Anna completed her degree.
Everybody had reached Aunt Grace's home on Wednesday itself except Sharon. She reached there on Good Friday Morning around 11:30AM. She got a welcome kiss from the kids of the family who were playing near the gate. Young girls were in the first floor balcony and was calling her out when she reached the gate. The young boys were not at home. Entering the house she saw Lisa playing with her toys in the front verandah; unattended. In the living room uncles were discussing some big political issue. And all the aunts and other ladies in the family were in the kitchen with their gossip programme. Sharon threw away her bag in a room and went to attend Lisa. She also called out for Aunt Grace to communicate her arrival. She took Lisa in her hands and was planning to go upstairs to the girls while Aunt Grace came to the verandah. She asked Sharon to come to the kitchen as the aunts wanted to see her.
Sharon gave Lisa a warm kiss, seated her back on ground with her toys, watched her playing with her toys for 2 seconds and immediately followed Aunt Grace to the kitchen. Again busy with her toys, sitting Lisa suddenly lost her balance and fell backwards. Her head hit the tiled floor. She became unconscious and rolled over to the front door steps and fell down. The kids playing outside cried out seeing this and Sharon who didn't reach kitchen by that time was the first to reach Lisa and attend her. In no time the whole family was suddenly in front of the house. Lisa was rushed to nearby hospital where she was admitted and moved to ICU.
Aunt Grace had seen Lisa with Sharon when she came to call Sharon and later she sees Sharon beside Lisa who had fell down. And without any questions asked to Sharon, Aunt Grace believed that Lisa was mishandled by Sharon or fell down due to her mistake. She discussed this with the whole family and curses showered on Sharon from the lips of the family members. Curses filled the air outside the ICU door. The whole family was sitting outside the ICU and Sharon alone was sitting near the door. Everybody passing Sharon by that way was asking her - "What you have done Sharon???". It was like Sharon was not matured enough to look after small children and Anna just one year elder than Sharon is perfect as a mother. Aunt Grace even cursed Sharon's womb and prayed that she don't give birth to a child whom she cannot take care of.
"And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” Mark 10:34
The family went through a lot of mental suffering to finally hear from the doctors on the third day that the child has survived. But the child has developed a small epilepsy problem(fits) which can be cured by medicine. After this incident no one in the family ever left their small children unattended. Everything happening in our life has some cause and somebody should be the scrape goat for that cause if some real change is to happen. What would be the mental situation of Sharon at those times? She would have been praying to God these two days - "Father if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:40.
