And God Took Back His Angel

It seemed like a scene straight from the movies…

A young boy lying on a hospital bed, his lifeless body unresponsive. 

Except that this was no movie scene.  He was my husband’s nephew and this after all is our life.

It was a shock to see him lying still on the bed, heartwrenching to hug him and feel him cold.  

He was Manuel Carl or simply “MC” to us.  He was fair, happy and it was obvious that he has gained some weight this past year.  

Like every morning, MC drank his milk at 5 a.m.  His mom happily put him to sleep, gave him a kiss and placed him in his crib.  Four hours later, he has yet to turn or give a cringe in his crib.  He has turned blue.  A rush to the hospital proved futile,  he was declared “dead on arrival”. 

Doctors declared it was a case of “SIDS” – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  There is no known conclusive cause of it.  It just happens.  There’s a one and a half percent (1.5 %) for it to happen to a baby.  It can happen to anyone. 

But how can it happen to us, how can it happen to them.

My sister in law recounted the morning over and over again, trying to decipher where she has missed, where she has been mistaken or negligent in taking care of her baby.  Hasn’t she been a good mother is a heart-wrenching question to hear.  Her husband stood quiet and still by the hallway, his knuckles bleeding from the punches made on the wall.  Has he not been a good provider that the Lord has chosen to take his youngest away, he asked.

All day long I listened to speeches of faith, prayer and God’s unknown design.  I even gave my own.  Willing for the couple to draw strength from these words and the family’s supportive embrace.

But how this can ebb the despair of a bleeding heart,  I am not sure.  No comforting words can ease the pain of a parent mourning over his/her child.  No parent is suppose to mourn over his/her child.  

MC will be laid to rest on Saturday, 10 a.m., in Meycauayan, Bulacan.  He was 18 months old.