My Wanderings 108. Short Story No 60. Her Last wake up call

                           Arvind was a very daring and straightforward person right from the time I came into his aquantance. He boldly encountered all the problems which he faced in his life. After changing various jobs he finally got settled in central excise department. He got married to Usha a very beautiful and educated girl who was working as a teacher in state  education department .  It was love cum arranged marriage as he had  fallen in love with her at first sight and arranged marriage with her through the involvement of his parents. Usha was really a very nice person with all the womanly virtues like humility, love care and honesty. 

            Their married life was going on  in most cordial  and compatible manner and they were enjoying the blessings of married life to the hilt. After some time  they were blessed with a baby girl, who came into their life like a divine boon.

          It was  only after the birth of their daughter that  Usha began to show some signs of ailments which continued through out her life  and always  became a  reason of worry for her husband Arvind.

          Strange are the ways of nature as no body can anticipate about what is stored for him in providence.  First she had  cynocytes  which latter on developed into chronic asthma and made the quality of her life miserable .  Then after some years she was diagnosed with heart problem which required immediate operation . After  successful operation some of the problems of couple were mitigated at the cost of  some care and attention which she required  through out the rest of her life.  But the  problem of asthama continued to add sufferings to her life . A small exposure to dust or soot would make her life miserable. She would often complaint that death was better than these sufferings  which she had to undergo because of these illnesses.

                One day her husband in order to console her said , " Sometimes it takes a wake-up call from God to alert us to the fact that we're hurrying through our lives instead of actually living them; that we're living the fast life instead of the good life. And I think, for many people, that wake-up call takes the form of an illness.

" But why the other people who are not ill so often,  do not require this wake up call from  God,"  replied back Usha. 

"  Life is difficult for every one , every one has bad days but  God tests his dear ones only  by putting them in  more adversity and misery. The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful than all," said her husband . These consoling  words of  Arvind brought a smile on the face of  Usha and she fell asleep. 

          With the passage of time and ageing process Usha became  more vunrable to these chronic illnesses  as her immunity was very low. Sometimes attacks of asthama would make her life very miserable and she had a narrow escape from death like situation. One day while cursing the quality of her life she exclaimed in great sorrow,  "Chronic illnesses are like uninvited guests who never seem to leave.  They stick around sometimes, for life time , reshaping the way our body function . They don't just play with our body , they can also mess up with our minds. Living with chronic disease can make us  feel letdown, isolated,angry  and downright sad."

"But chronic illnesses can also be an  opportunity to find strength , grace and sometimes humour in the face of challenges it provides," replied Arvind.

"Oh, it  is all what's app knowledge .  only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches", said Usha vehemently. 

Arvind could not coin a proper reply to Usha's words and choose to remain silent. 

                      He was very much worried about the health of Usha. Moreover, he felt the intensity of the  problems of Usha deeply and a mere thought of it would bring sadness to his face.  He knew already  one day Usha will leave him for good and he may  not be able to do anything. His life will become desperate and desolate  with out Usha. His body will become  just like a living corpse in her absence . His life will be aimless and rudderless too . He will not bear the death of Usha in any case. How he will look up after his daughter which was now in  her teens . These thoughts of separation from Usha would bring tears to  his eyes but  he always mustered the courage and encountered Usha with resolute and smiling countenance. 

              One morning Arvind slept till  late in his bed. His wife Usha came to awaken him but all in vain. Oh God ! Perhaps that was her last wake up call to him . Doctor was called in , who declared Arvind dead and cause of death was heart attack. Usha fell down on the floor with a wild shreik  and was motionless. The people around thought for a minute that she too has passed away. But after sometime she got up and mustered courage to arrange for the final rights of her husband while consoling her teenage daughter , who was weeping vehemently. 

         A death from a long illness is very different from a sudden death. It gives you time to say goodbye and time to adjust to the idea that the beloved will not be with you anymore.