Emerging Courageous online Magazine - Stories
"SHE NEVER GAVE UP" by Michael Segal, MSW
"I'll be back in five minutes. I just need to run in and get some panty
hose," Marion said as she left the car outside of Joske's Department Store,
three hours before New Year's Eve, leaving her husband inside the brand new blue
Cadillac.
When she returned five minutes later, she was confused. She looked up and down
the sidewalk outside of the Department Store wondering where her husband had
gone. "He probably was forced to move the car by a police officer but will
be back within a few minutes." As she patiently waited, those minutes
turned into five, then ten, and finally twenty interminable minutes but still
there was no sign of her husband or his car. Something was wrong -- definitely
wrong.
Frightened, Marion called the police, then her attorney, and finally her rabbi.
The entire Houston community was put on alert. Search parties were formed in a
desperate effort to find her husband, and two days later the work of the
community finally paid off. However, unfortunately, the result was not a happy
ending. Marion's husband was found in his car, tucked away in the woods -- but
brutally murdered.
Marion was devastated. She had four young and beautiful children who depended on
their father, not only for his financial support but also for the deep love and
care that he always gave them. What would the family do now? How would they
cope?
Soon, the answer became apparent to Marion. They would "go on" because
that was what her husband would have wanted and even demanded that they do. It
would not be an easy task, but Marion believed her husband would expect nothing
less. In her mind she heard him say, "You must go on."
Therefore, the family did go on with their lives. It was not always easy, but
Marion would keep repeating to the children: "Do it for dad."
Marion never forgot her husband as she watched her family grow, graduate from
college, and eventually find loving spouses. She knew that her husband would
have been proud.
But life does "go on", and eventually Marion met a wonderful gentleman
and decided to remarry.
Marion was happy with her new husband and she knew that her first husband would
have also wanted her to go on with her own life and not merely hibernate. But,
unfortunately, after a number of years, her new husband became very ill and he,
too, passed away. It was difficult to accept. Very few people believe they will
have to bury one spouse, but burying two spouses is extremely painful. However,
in her mind she always heard her first husband saying, "You must go on. You
must persevere."
Years passed and Marion developed Rheumatism, an extremely painful and crippling
form of Arthritis. At times, the pain would be absolutely unbearable. However,
she would always think of her late husband and hear him saying, "You must
go on."
Then, she developed Hepatitis C. The disease was devastating, often causing
additional pain on top of the rheumatic pains. However, among the many lessons
Marion learned from her experiences was -- "One must go on."
A few years passed, and even though it was difficult at times for her to cope,
Marion "went on with her life" until that eventful New Year's Eve when
she momentarily ceased breathing. Her children immediately called an ambulance
that rushed her to a hospital; however, it was uncertain whether she would, or
would not, survive the evening. The doctors came out to speak to the children
and told them that their mother had had an allergic reaction to a new medication
that she has just begun taking. The physicians went on to say that her prognosis
was questionable. However, as the days passed, Marion became stronger and
stronger. But a few days before she was supposed to be discharged -- she
slipped, fell, and broke her hip while going to the bathroom in the middle of
the evening.
Once again, Marion was undergoing another ordeal. To make matters even worse,
she developed a blood clot in her leg while recuperating from the surgery to
repair her broken hip. The doctors warned the family that if another surgery was
not attempted, the clot could travel to her heart and result in death.
Therefore, Marion "went under the knife" again -- having a
"screen" placed inside her body to "trap" the clot. The
family wondered how their mother could handle and cope with each and every
additional problem. However, the answer was always the same -- "I must go
on."
As she fought to improve, Marion was dealt still another major blow. While
routinely being examined, her doctor noticed a lump in her breast. He told her
to relax and they would perform some additional tests and the family and medical
staff would decide what to do after analyzing the results.
Marion's family was devastated when they were eventually told that the lump was
malignant. The children, medical staff, and Marion herself decided to do nothing
as they weighed the positive and negative effects the treatment would cause. All
felt that her physical condition and quality of life were crucial, and another
surgery would simply be too risky.
Therefore, after recuperating from her many injuries and ailments she was
discharged to a "Long-Term Care Facility." She was happy there. Sure,
there were days when the pain was so severe that she would wonder how she could
endure. But she always heard her late husband telling her, "You must go
on."
And endure and cope she did, again and again, until one day she simply stopped
breathing again -- and was finally at peace: no more pain, no more discomfort,
no more surgeries.
However, as we all were listening to her family eulogize Marion at her funeral,
we learned one mighty lesson. The children in their own beautiful ways told us
the great lesson that they had learned from their mother: "You must go
on."
While I was listening to the eulogies being recited about her, I felt that
Marion was looking down from heaven and smiling at her children as they echoed
the lesson she had heard from her first husband and that she had communicated to
them: "You must go on."
© 2002 by Michael Segal All rights reserved [email protected]
Michael Segal is a social worker, writer, and well sought after motivational
speaker. He married his high school sweetheart, Sharon, and together they have a
daughter, Shawn. Mike has had national recognition about his
"miraculous" comeback after being shot in the head as an innocent
witness to a robbery. He has many published stories in anthologies, booklets,
and newsletters and is currently looking for a publisher for his autobiography, IN
THE BLINK OF AN EYE--THE BULLET THAT CHANGED MY LIFE.
Please visit his web page at www.allworld.net/segal