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Friday, October 30, 2009

A true story on WHAT GRUDGES CAN DO


A story worth reading and taken as example in life.... don't lose the
moments in life just becoz of a quarrel...

This is long but worth reading and is a true story ... you may have received it...but it is worth to be reminded of it again.

WHAT GRUDGES CAN DO....
====================

Just two years after our marriage, hubby brought up the
idea of asking Mother to move from the rural hometown and
spend her remaining years with us. Hubby's father passed
away while he was still very young.

Mother endured much hardship
and struggled all on her own to provide for him, see him
through to a university degree. You could say that she
suffered a great deal and did everything you could expect of
a woman to bring hubby to where he is today.

I immediately agreed and
started packing the spare room, which has a balcony facing
the South to let her enjoy the sunshine and plant greenery.
Hubby stood in the bright room, and suddenly just picked me
up and started spinning round and round. As I begged him to
put me down, he said: "Lets go fetch mother."
Hubby is tall and big sized and I love to test on his chest
and enjoy the feeling that he could pick me up at any moment
put the tiny me into his pockets.

Whenever we have an argument
and both refuses to back down, he would pick me up and spin
me over his head continuously until I surrender and beg for
mercy. I became addicted to this kind of panic-joy feeling.

Mother brought along her countryside habits and lifestyle
with her.

For example; I am so used to
buying flowers to decorate the living room, she could not
stand it and would comment: "I do not know how you
young people spend your money, why do you buy flowers for?
You also can't eat flowers!" I smiled and said:
"Mum, with flowers in the house, our mood will also
become better." Mother continues to grumble away, and
hubby smiled: "Mum, this is a city-people's habit;
slowly you will get use to it."

Mother stopped saying anything. But every time thereafter,
whenever came home with flowers, she would ask me how much
it costs. I told her and she would shake her head and
express displeasure.

Sometimes, when I come home
with lots of shopping bags, she would ask each and every
item how much they cost, I would tell her honestly and she
would get even more upset about it. Hubby playfully pinched
my nose and said: "You little fool, just don't tell
her the full price of everything would solve it."

There begins the friction to our otherwise happy lifestyle.

Mother hates it most when hubby wakes up early to prepare
the breakfast. In your view, how could the man of the house
cook for the wife? At the breakfast table, mother facial
expression is always like the dark clouds before a
thunderstorm and I would pretend not to notice. She would
use her chopsticks and make a lot of noise with it as her
silent protest.

As I am a dance teacher in the Children's Palace and am
exhausted from along day of dancing around, I do not wish to
give up the luxury of that additional few minutes in the
comfort of my bed and hence I turned a deaf ear to all the
protest mother makes.

From time to time, mother
would help out with some housework, but soon her help
created additional work for me. For example: she would keep
all kinds of plastic bags accumulating them so that she sell
them later on, and resulted in our house being filled with
all the trash bags; she would scrimp on dish washing
detergent when helping to wash the dishes and so as not to
hurt her feelings, I would quietly wash them again.

One day, late at night, mother saw me quietly washing the
dishes, and "Bam" she slams her bedroom door and
cried very loudly in her room. Hubby was placed in a
difficult position, and after that, he did not speak to me
for that entire night.

I pretended to be a spoilt
child, tried acting cute, but he totally ignored me.... I
got mad and asked him:
"What did I do wrong?" Hubby stared at me and
said: "Can't you just give in to her once? We
couldn't possibly die eating from a bowl however unclean
it is, right?" After that incident, for a long period
of time, mother did not speak to me and you can feel that
there is a very awkward feeling hanging in the house. During
that period of cold war, hubby was caught in dilemma as to
who to please.

In order to stop her son from having to prepare breakfast,
mother took on the "all important" task of
preparing breakfast without any prompting. At the breakfast
table, mother would look at hubby happily eating his
breakfast and cast that reprimanding stare at me for having
failed to perform my duty as a wife. To avoid the
embarrassing breakfast situation, I resorted to buying my
own breakfast on my way to work.

That night, while in bed,
hubby was a little upset and asked me: "LD, is it
because you think that mum's cooking is not clean
that's why you chose not to eat at home?" He then
turned his back on me and left me alone in tears as feeling
of unfairness overwhelmed me. After some time, hubby sighed:
"LD, just for me, can you have breakfast at home?"
I am left with no choice but to return to the breakfast
table.

The next morning, I was having porridge prepared by mother
and I felt a sudden churn in my stomach and everything
inside seem to be rushing up my throat. I tried to suppress
the urge to throw up but I could not. I threw down the bowl,
rushed into the washroom, and vomited everything out.

Just as I was catching my
breath, I saw mother crying and grumbling very loudly in her
dialect, hubby was standing at the washroom doorway staring
at me with fire burning in his eyes.. I opened my mouth but
no words came out of it, I really did not mean it.

We had our very first big
fight that day; mother took a look at us, then stood up and
slowly made her way out of the house. Hubby gave me a final
stare in the eye and followed mother down the stairs. For
three days, hubby did not return home, not even a phone
call.

I was so furious, since
mother arrived; I had been trying my best and putting up
with her, what else do you want me to do? For no reason, I
keep having the feeling to throw up and I simply have not
appetite for food, coupled with all the events happening at
home, I was at then low point in my life.

Finally, a colleague said:
"LD, you look terrible; you should go and see a
doctor." The doctor confirmed that I am pregnant.

Now it became clear to me
why I threw up that fateful morning, a sense of sadness
floated through that otherwise happy news. Why didn't
hubby, and mother who had been through this before, thought
of the possibility of this being the reason that day?

At the hospital entrance, I
saw my hubby standing there. It had only been three days,
but he looked haggard. I had wanted to turn and leave, but
one look at him and my heart soften, I couldn't resist
and called out to him. He followed my voice and finally
found me but he pretended that he doesn't know me; he
has that disgusted look in his eyes that cut right through
my heart. I told myself not to look at him anymore, and hail
a cab.

At that moment, I have such
a strong urge inside me to shout to my hubby: "Darling,
I am having your baby!" and have him lift me up and
spin me around in circles of joy. What I wanted didn't
happen and as I sat in the cab, my tears started rolling
down. Why? Why our love couldn't even withstand the test
of one fight?

Back home, I lay on the bed
thinking about my hubby, and the disgusted look in his eyes.
I cried and wet the corner of the blanket. That night, sound
of the drawers opening woke me up. I switched on the lights
and I saw hubby with tears rolling down his face. He was
removing the money. I stared at him in silence; he ignored
me, took the bank deposit book and some money and left the
house.

Maybe he really intends to
leave me for good.. What a rational man, so clear-cut in
love and money matters. I gave a few dried laugh and tears
starting streaming down again. The next day, I did not go to
work. I wanted to clear this out and have a good talk with
hubby. I reached his office and his secretary gave me a
weird look and said: "Mr. Tan's mother had a
traffic accident and is now in the hospital."

I stood there in shock. I rushed to the hospital and by the
time I found hubby, mother had already passed away. Hubby
did not look at me, his face was expressionless. I looked at
mother's pale white and thin face and I couldn't
control the tears in my eyes. My god, how could this happen?

Throughout the funeral,
hubby did not say a single word to me, with only the
occasional disgusted stare at me. I only managed to find out
brief facts about the accident from other people. That day,
after mother left the house, she walked in dazed toward the
bus stop, apparently intending to go back to her old house
back in the countryside.

As hubby ran after her, she
tried to walk faster and as she tried to cross the street, a
public bus came and hit her... I finally understood how much
hubby must hate me, if I had not thrown up that morning, if
we had not quarreled, if....In his heart, I am indirectly
the killer of his mother..

Hubby moved into mother's room and came home every
night with a strong liquor smell on him. And me, I am buried
under the guilt and self-pity and could hardly breathe. I
wanted to explain to him, tell him that we are going to have
our baby soon, but each time, I saw the dead look in his
eyes, all the words I have at the brink of my mouth just
fell back in.

I had rather he hit me real
hard or give me a big and thorough scolding though none of
these events happening had been my fault at all. Many days
of suffocating silence went by and as the days went by,
hubby came home later and later. The deadlock between us
continues, we were living together like strangers who
don't know each other. I am like the dead knot in his
heart.

One day, I passed by a
western restaurant, looking into the glass window, I saw
hubby and a girl sitting facing each other and he very
lightly brushed her hair for her, I understood what it
meant. After recovering from that moment of shock, I entered
the restaurant, stood in front of my hubby and stared hard
at him, not a tear in my eyes. I have nothing to say to him,
and there is no need to say anything. The girl looked at me,
looks at hubby, stands up and wanted to go, hubby stretched
out his hand and stopped her. He stared back at me,
challenging me. I can only hear my slow heart beat, beating,
one by one as if at the brink of death.

I eventually backed down, if
I had stood that any longer, I will collapse together with
the baby inside me.. That night, he did not come home; he
had chosen to use that as a way to indicate to me:
Following mother's death so did our love for each
other...

He did not come home anymore after that. Sometimes, when I
returned home from work, I can tell that the cupboard had
been touched - he had returned to take some of his stuff. I
no longer wish to call him; the initial desire to explain
everything to him vanished.

I lived alone; I go for my
medical checkups alone, my heart breaks again and again
every time I see a guy carefully helping his wife through
the physical examination. My office colleagues hinted to me
to consider aborting the baby, I told them No, I will not..
I insisted on having to this baby, perhaps it is my way of
repaying mother for causing her death.

One day, I came home and I
saw hubby sitting in the living room. The whole house was
filled with cigarette smoke. On the coffee table, there was
this piece of paper. I know what it is all about without
even looking at it. In the two months plus of living alone,
I have gradually learned to find peace within myself. I
looked at him, removed my hat and said: "You wait a
while, I will sign." He looked at me, mixed feelings in
his eyes, just like mine.

As I hang up my coat, I keep repeating to myself "You
cannot cry, you cannot cry..." my eyes hurt terribly,
but I refused to let tears come out from there.
After I hung up my coat, hubby's eyes stared fixed at
my bulging tummy. I smiled, walked over to the coffee table
and pulled the paper towards me. Without even looking at
what it says, I signed my name on it and pushed the paper to
him. "LD, are you pregnant?" Since mother's
accident, this is the first time he spoke to me. I could not
control my tears any further and they fell like raindrops. I
said: "Yes, but its ok, you can leave now." He did
not go, in the dark, we sat, facing each other.

Hubby slowly moved over me,
his tears wet the blanket. In my heart, everything seems so
far away, so far that even if I sprint, I could never reach
them. I cannot remember how many times he repeated
"sorry" to me. I had originally thought that I
would forgive him, but now I can't. In the western
restaurant, in front of that girl, that cold look in his
eyes, I will never forget, ever.

We have drawn such deep
scars in each other's heart. For me, it's
unintentional; for him, totally intentional. I had been
waiting for this moment of reconciliation, but I realized
now, what had gone past is gone forever and could not
repeated.

Other than the thought of the baby inside me that would
bring some warmth to my heart, I am totally cold towards
him, I no longer eat anything he buys for me, I don't
take any presents from him and I stopped talking to him..

From the moment I signed on
that piece of paper, marriage and love had vanished from my
heart. Sometimes, hubby will try to come into the bedroom,
but when he walks in, I will walk out to the living room.

He had no choice but to
sleep in mother's room. At night, from his room, I can
hear light sounds of groaning, I kept quiet. This used to be
his trick; last time, whenever I ignore him, he would fake
illness and I will surrender and find out what is wrong with
him, he would then grab me and laugh.

He has forgotten that last
time I cared for him and am concerned because there was
love, but now, what is there between us? Hubby's
groaning came on and off continuing but I continuously
ignored him.

Almost everyday, he would buy something for the baby,
infant products, children products and books that kids like
to read. Bags and bags of it stacked inside his room till it
is full. I know he is trying to use this to reach out to me,
but I am no longer moved by his actions. He has no choice
but to lock himself in his room and I can hear his typing
away on his computer keyboard, maybe he is now addicted to
web surfing but none of that matters to me anymore.

It was sometime towards the
end of spring in the following year, one late night, I
screamed because of a sudden stomach pain, hubby came
rushing into the room, its like he did not change and sleep,
and had been waiting for this moment. He carried me and ran
down the stairs, stopped a car, holding my hand very tightly
and kept wiping the sweat off my brow, throughout the
journey to the hospital.

Once we reached the
hospital, he carried me and hurried into the delivery suite.
Lying on the back of his skinny but warmth body, a thought
crossed my mind: In my lifetime, who else would love me as
much as he did?

He held the delivery suite door opened and watch me go in;
his warm eyes caused me to manage a smile at him despite my
contraction pain. Coming out of the delivery room, hubby
looked at our son and me, eyes tear with joy and he kept
smiling. I reached out and touched his hand.

Hubby looked at me, smiling
and then he slowly collapsed onto the floor. I cried out for
him in pain... He smiled, but without opening that tired
eyes of his... I had thought that I would never shed any
tear for him, but the truth is, I have never felt a deeper
pain cutting through my body at that moment.

Doctor said that by the time
hubby discovered he had liver cancer, it was already in
terminal stage and it was a miracle that he managed to last
this long. I asked the doctor when he first discovered he
had cancer. Doctor said about 5 months ago and consoled me
saying: "Prepare for his funeral."

I disregarded the nurse's objection and rushed home, I
went into his room and checked his computer, and a
suffocating pain hits me.

Hubby's cancer was
discovered 5 months ago, his groaning was real, and I had
thought that... the computer showed over 200 thousand
words he wrote for our son: "Son, just for you, I
have persisted, to be able to take a look at you before I
fall, is my biggest wish now... I know that in your life,
you will have many happiness and maybe some setbacks, if
only I can accompany you throughout that journey, how nice
would it be. But daddy now no longer has that chance. Daddy
has written inside here all the possible difficulties and
problems you may encounter during your lifetime, when you
meet with these problems, you can refer to daddy's
suggestion....

Son, after writing these 200 thousand words, I feel as if I
have accompanied you through life journey. To be honest,
daddy is very happy. Do love your mother, she has suffered,
she is the one who loves you most and also the one who loves
me most..."

From play school to primary
school, to secondary, university, to work and even in
dealing with questions of love, everything big and small was
written there.

Hubby has also written a letter for me:

"My dear, to marry you is my biggest happiness,
forgive me for the pain I have caused you, forgive me for
not telling you my illness, because I want to see you be in
a joyful mood waiting for the arrival of our baby...My dear,
if you cried, it means that you have forgiven me and I would
smile, thank you for loving me...These presents, I'm
afraid I cannot give them to our son personally, could you
help me to give some of them to him every year, the dates on
what to give when are all written on the packaging..."

Going back to the hospital, hubby is still in coma. I
brought our son over and place him beside him. I said:
"Open your eyes and smile, I want our son to remember
being in the warmth of your arms..." He struggled to
open his eyes and managed a weak smile. Our son still in his
arms was happily waving his tiny hands in the air. I press
the button on the camera and the sound of the shutter rang
through the air as tears slowly rolled down my face....

A fatal misunderstanding and
the person who loves me the most in this world is gone
forever..."Cruel misunderstandings one after another
disrupted the blissful footsteps to our family. Our
originals intend of having Mother enjoy some quiet and
peaceful moments in her remaining years with us went
terribly wrong as destiny's secret is finally revealed
at a price, every thing became too late.".........

This is a true story...
LEARNING POINT - DO NOT EVER HOLD ON TO OFFENCES!!!

I am totally speechless, this story brought tears to my
eyes as I read through each line eager to know what would
happen next. It truly showed the devastating power of
grudges and anger!

Simple humility and
communication would have resolved most of the problems in
that story, as well as patience....

Communication with your loved ones is THE key.

posted by Papa God's kid ♥ @ 1:18 AM