The Domino Effect

Have you ever noticed that people die in batches? I don't know why, but every year there are a couple of months where a group of people I know die.. one after another! 

For the last two months, I think I heard of more than 7 people who passed away. People I know and others are relatives of my friends. But the one story that shook me was about a lady I never met.. 

The day before yesterday, as I was waiting for my turn to talk to my son's teacher at the parents' meeting, a group of mothers standing not so far away caught my attention. They were having an emotional conversation about someone. As soon as I heard the words "She only had a headache" and "Her daughter is with my daughter in class" I got very curious. I took a few steps towards them and said hello. They all looked at me trying to figure out who I am. I did not know any of them but I knew I had to ask.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help but hear some of what you were saying. May I ask what's the story?"

They all looked down. One mother looked me in the eye and said in a very sad tone: "It's one of the mothers here at school. She had a very bad headache last week, which she thought is due to exhaustion and did not pay much attention to, and now is in a coma. Turns out the poor lady had multiple brain strokes."

"What?!" I said. "Was she old??"
They all shook their heads. 
"No. She is our age."
"Oh my God!..... How many kids does she have?"
"She has a boy in 7th grade and two little girls in primary school and a 1.5 year old girl."


I left after I have finished the meeting. And instead of being so happy about my son's performance, that lady was all I could think of. 

Yesterday I went to pick up Faris from his friend’s house. And I stayed for a while to chit chat with his friend’s mother. So I brought up that lady’s story. Turns out she is her friend. Details of how her parents suddenly decided to come to Amman from Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening and how neither she or anyone else in her family thought this could be anything more than just a headache, and how she spent Sunday night with them only to go into immediate surgery the next day and never woke up after that gave me the chills.

While we were still talking about her, the phone rang. It was that phone call everybody dreads where you receive the news of someone’s death..

She passed away yesterday after 8 days of deep coma.. She died so young and left a whole family broken..

It is one thing that she passed away.. but all I could think of now is her kids. The boy is in a very critical age.. and the girls are too young to handle the death of their mom.. let alone her husband, mother, and father.

While I wrote this post in the warmth of my bed, there were people out there feeling cold and empty after she passed away.. there is a confused teenage boy and 3 little girls who lost a mom, a friend, and a guardian angel.

I have no idea what the future holds for this family, but for now, I only pray for them to have the strength to face the coming days…

It freaks me out how death comes so suddenly.. It freaks me out that I might be having a blast today not knowing that tomorrow I will go into my eternal sleep.. and it freaks me the most that I also could die tomorrow and leave behind my kids so young and so confused..

May your soul rest in peace Dima.. and with you I think of a dozen more who died suddenly and at a young age..

I hope they all rest in peace..