Her name is Sajanie.
An old woman living her last days in a retirement home.
For her, it was unexpected.

She had never thought that this place would be her final home since, in life’s journeys, she had faced many challenges but still stood strong for home and family.
She missed her home, the warm tones and fragrant scents, watching the timeless splendour of the sunrise and sunset from her porch. But most of all, she missed her beloved family, their voices, the laughter and conversations, their celebrations and hugs.

It had grieved her heart and made her sad being away from them, just waiting and counting the days for special visits, and in that lonely period of her life, she had asked herself the question, “What did I do wrong for this to happen to me?”
As time went by and the seasons changed, she could not find the answer until a mysterious male nurse came to work at the home. She had liked his warm personality and gentle voice as he pushed her around the garden in her wheelchair. The lovely blooms had given her a moment of peace and a little elation, something she hadn’t felt since she became a resident of the home.
On the nights when she couldn’t sleep, he had spent long moments talking with her. He had helped her to go back to her past to find the answer to that one question that still hounded her mind, and in doing so she had managed to unlock a door in her mind that had been closed for decades.

What she had found behind that door had shocked her and left her with deep regrets. A baby boy she had had when a young woman and whom she didn’t want had died minutes after birth. She had moved on in life, forgetting about him and giving her all to her other children.
“Oh God,” she cried, “Is that the sin I am paying for now?”

The male nurse had looked at her with pity for the tears she cried now for that baby she didn’t want, then he had smiled and said to her,
“I am happy that you remembered so I can be released now from the bond that tied me to you for all those years.”
She had looked at him puzzled, “What are you talking about?”
“I am your baby boy who died just after birth.”

A soft light glowed over him as his true self was revealed to his spiritual form.
She gasped in shock, and her trembling hands reached out to him, “I’m sorry, son.”
He smiled with that same warmth and said with gentleness, “Don’t be, mother, it’s the long gone past. I am happy I could have helped you. Now your mind will be at peace. I will wait for you on the other side.”

He had turned and walked away into the glow of light and she had laid back slowly in bed, her mind not vibrant anymore, but days later, she managed to process that shocking revelation.
“That’s why the nurses never knew who I was talking to,” she voiced weakly, wiping away her tears.
She closed her eyes to sleep, free now from the burden of that nagging question, a feeling of warmth surging through her body and she sighed, “I am ready whenever you are, Lord.”
That day came on a warm September morning, a soft wind blowing and she whispered ‘Goodbye’ to the mother bird and her chicks in the tree outside of her bedroom window.
“I am going now. Life continues with you.”

She took her last breath that beautiful morning, the old woman who had grown weaker over the year but with a happy feeling in her heart. It was, for her, a new beginning, for her soul was free to sail over the seas, fly with the wind and dance among the clouds.
She met her family of departed souls who had been waiting for her with open arms, but she did not see her son.
“Did he not wait for me?” she wondered.

She looked around but did not see him, and her mother asked curiously, “Who are you looking for?”
“My son.”
“None of your sons have died,” she stated.
“Yes, the one who died just after he was born, the one I didn’t want.”
The family members all looked surprised and her eldest sister asked, “So, how did you meet him?”
“He came to me when I was in the nursing home.”

That, of course, left everyone perplexed and Sajanie laughed a little.
“Strange, the way things happen.”
Not a moment too soon, she felt a sudden pull and found herself in a cemetery.
“What am I doing here?”

Her question was answered when a figure stepped out from behind an oak tree and she recognised her son from his visits to the nursing home. He reached out his hand for hers and said, “So you’re here now with me.”
She smiled and nodded but then she saw the little tomb he was standing near to and she realised that was where he had lain as a baby. The guilt she thought had gone away came back with a rush and she said quietly, with a tremor in her voice, “I’m so sorry, my son.”
He shook his head and said, “The past matters no more, Mother, for you’re here with me now, a new beginning for us.”
It took a little while for her to compose herself, then she smiled and, taking his hand, said, “If there’s time, I want to visit places that were a special part of my life on earth, before ascending to our new home. Will you come with me?”

“Sure.”
And like a gentle whisper of the wind, her ageless soul went back to her birth home. The old house wasn’t there anymore but the memories of a little girl growing up were still there; the joys, laughter and family. She went to her old school, which had been rebuilt but was on a silk cotton tree in the schoolyard, and her name was still carved.
At the cinema, she stopped for a longer reflection and expressed softly, “Those were wonderful days.”
He watched how happy she was visiting these old places that held such beautiful memories, memories that will now be archived with loved ones, for she had left that world.
He took her hand and asked, “Are you ready?”

She nodded her head and walked towards the light, holding her son’s hand – a happy ending for the old lady who had given everything to home and family in life’s journey but was left alone with nothing.
Now, in this new beginning, she had everything.