This picture is a picture of my good friend Adeline and her mother. It was taken almost three weeks ago, when I went to see her mother in the hospital for the last time as she was dying from an irreversible and incurable liver disease. I knew that, leaving for the training in the capital the next day, I may not see her again, so was glad to have been able to snap a picture of the two of them on my phone.
It was a few days later, while I was gone, that I got the news that Adeline’s mother had gone to be with Jesus. How hard for my young friend, who was the main one in charge of her care these last few weeks at different hospitals!
I could take this story in many different ways or could write a whole book about different aspects of what went on, but let me just share with you a little bit more.
I know that here, having a framed picture of someone you love is very much appreciated, so before I came home I got this picture blown up to be an 8×10, framed it, and brought it home to give it to Adeline. When I saw her the night I got home and gave it to her, she cried, as I could have expected (even though crying in public is highly looked down on here). But what I didn’t expect is what else she said through her tears – that it is the only picture she has of her mom. She used to have a few pictures digitally on an SD card, but the SD card got lost and there went the pictures. So she was so touched to have a picture remembrance of her mom. If I hadn’t thought to snap the quick picture on my phone, she’d never have a picture of her mom to remember her by. Can you even imagine?
