A MOTHER’S DAY WISH

Dear mother, we’re sending to you

In Heaven
Our love on this day
Hugs and kisses
For we can see you no more
We wish so much
You can come back to us

DAMIAN and Anna blew into the wind invisible words they had written in their palms and watched as though they can see them rise into the shifting clouds, hoping those words would reach heaven.
They stood hand in hand in the church yard where their mother was laid to rest, as the church bells tolled to herald this new day. A day special in its own way, Mother’s Day – when honour is bestowed with flowers, songs and beautiful words for a mother’s divine love, a love that never dies, for it’s immortal. The children had brought carnations, her favourite flower, and they knelt down with their father to express their sentiments. She would not be with them for Mother’s Day, not in physical form, but the children felt in spirit she was always there, watching over them, from God’s home in heaven where she had gone four years ago. Today, they felt not the sadness that had burdened their young minds, but enlightenment and peace, as though she wanted them not to grieve, but to feel happiness. That night, as they sat down for dinner, one person was missing, just her beautiful, smiling portrait hanging on the wall.Damian looked at his father, the quiet man he had become, holding strong for his children, not showing the pain and grief inside his heart. Tomorrow he would go back to work, his two children to school and the days would continue, dull and lonely.
Damian was just eight and his sister six, but he understood they needed something new in their lives so their hearts could feel joy and there would be a glow in their smiles.
“Do you have any new plans, Dad?” the little boy asked.
“No,” his father answered in a low tone, not looking up, “Grandma and Grandpa will be visiting for a few days,” he said hoping to cheer them up. “Oh, yeah,” both children said in lackluster voices, not that they did not love their grandparents, but that was not something new and wonderful they had been wishing for, like when their mother was there. They went to bed, wrestling with sleep, as their little minds searched for an idea, then Anna said, “I don’t like to see Dad so lonely, he needs someone to talk with, to laugh with, to have fun, he needs…” she paused for a little while, pondering, then a bright light danced in her eyes, “He needs someone just like Mom.” “Great,” Damian said throwing up his arms, hopelessly. “Where do we find someone, like mom?”
“Idon’t know,” Annasaid, “But we can pray, for a miracle can happen.” “I’m not sure about a miracle,” Damian said, “But, I guess we can pray.” As the children slept, each with a prayer in mind for a miracle to touch their lives, a little light flew down from the sky and landed in the rose garden, outside their window. Days became weeks and months and the children thought their earnest prayer would bring a miracle, when one day, at a corner candy store with grandma, a woman’s reflection from across the street, on the store’s window, caused Damian to gasp in shock. He grabbed Anna’s arm and said almost breathlessly, “Look.” “What, where?” The little girl looked around, bewildered. He pointed and Anna drew in her breath, sharply, grabbing her brother’s arm. The woman they saw was so beautiful, with dark, lustrous hair; but what had astounded the children was the remarkable resemblance to their mother. It was like they were looking at her reflection. The woman looked their way, not quite seeing them, a smile on her face and it was at that moment a miracle was born, as that smile touched their little hearts. She turned and walked into the huge business complex and Damian, pulling Anna’s arm, ran across the street, almost stopping traffic, forgetting that grandma was in the store, “Come on, we can’t lose her”
They squeezed past busy shoppers and stood amazed, as it was one of the biggest fashion houses in town. There were so many beautifully dressed women there, but not the brunette woman they just saw,
“Where did she go?” The children looked around anxiously, then Sarah spotted her getting into an elevator. They ran but they got there too late as the elevator doors closed.Not to be daunted, they took another elevator and after searching eight floors, they found her working with the models of her fashion store. They hid between two mannequins, watching her every move, listening to the sound of her voice, watching her smile, “Oh my God” Anna said, wanting to cry, “I can’t believe this”“Well, we wanted a miracle” Damian said “And she is our miracle”
They completely forgot grandma in the store, until one of the assistants who had watching them for a while, asked, “Are you kids lost?” “No we’re fine” Damian said and they hurried back to the candy store to an almost frantic grandma. They did not tell their father about the woman they saw and that night, they laid in bed too excited to sleep, wondering what to do or who to tell. That Sunday seemed to be the longest day of their lives, waiting for tomorrow. Their father noticed their restlessness and asked concerned, “Are you kids okay? Did you have too much chocolate to eat?”
“No Dad,” they said in unison.
They had already gotten into trouble for their little escapade at the candy store yesterday, so they were careful about what they said to him. He dropped them off to school on Monday and both children went to classes with their little plan in mind to enact during the lunch break. They had to find a way to the fashion house, to see their mother look alike, to talk to her and they had to do that without too much notice and be back at school before the lunch break was over. Two desperate little children, with a wish in their hearts, took a big chance, their little legs running untiringly until they reached the fashion house. They tagged along behind different women as though they were with her, so no one would notice they were there alone, until they reached the 8th floor. The assistant saw them immediately, remembering them from the day before.
“Why are you here again?” “We want to see the lady who owns this fashion store.” Damian said bravely.“Why?” she asked, curiously, looking beyond them to see who they were with.“She’s our mother” said Anna. “What?” the assistant looked at them, started to laugh then stopped at the tearful plea in the children’s eyes. “This should be interesting”, she said, with an amused smile. “I’d love to hear what my boss has to say about this.”
The children followed her to the boss’s private office and held each other’s hand tightly as her mellow voice from within said, “Come in.”
She was at her desk working and looked up as the assistant entered with the children.
“What is this, Amanda?”
“I’m not sure,” Amanda said, the amused look still on her face.
“These two children want to see you, they say you’re their mother.” That certainly took her by surprise. “What?” She looked at the two nervous little children, standing close to each other and asked with a little laugh, “How did that happen and I didn’t know about it?”
“Because you went to Heaven and God sent you back,” Anna said, a little tremor in her voice.
She got up from her desk and came around, calling them to sit on a sofa beside her and spoke to them softly. “Why do you think I’m your mother?”
Damian took a photograph from his haversack and showed her, she looked at the picture, quite surprised at the close resemblance.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I just look like her but I’m not your mother.”
“But we prayed for a miracle.” Anna said, starting to cry, “You are our Mother’s Day wish.”
“Okay don’t cry,” she said, comfortingly, moved by the child’s tears, not sure what to do, looking at her assistant for help.
“Do you have a father?” Amanda asked the kids.
“Yes.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
“No, we snuck out from school.”
“Then I think we should call him,” she said.
The children’s father arrived in less than half an hour, and as the assistant showed him in, he stopped and stared astounded at the lady of the fashion store. He looked from her to the kids and asked, “What is this all about?”
“They think I’m the mother,” she said.
The children ran to him and hugged him, “We asked God to send back our mother”, Damian said, “ and when we saw her the day from the candy store, we know he had answered our prayers.”
It was such a touching scene, they all had tears in their eyes.
“I’m sorry about all this,” the father said, “But they really miss their mother.”
“I really don’t know what to say,” the lady said with an understanding smile, wiping the tears from her eyes. “They’re really brave kids.”
She stooped down and held out her arms to them, hugging them and wiping their tears. “I don’t want you to think that God hadn’t answered your prayers, so for now, I can be your friend and we’ll see in time where that takes us.”
“You’ll spend time with us?” Anna asked, excited.
“I’m a very busy person,” she said smiling, “But I’ll make some time to spend with both of you.”
The children smiled, their little hearts happy and the father said with deep relief, “Thank you very much, in time they’ll understand, though I can’t blame them because I’m amazed myself at the resemblance with their mother.”
She nodded and smiled.
She visited them for lunch that Sunday and spent the rest of the day. For the first time in four years, the children noticed a spark of interest in their father’s eyes. It was the beginning of something new , something wonderful, the miracle of prayers and two children’s Mother’s Day wish.

Maureen Rampertab

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