Marcelo Ferreiro

Saddest history I’ve ever read

8 de junio de 2008

This post is written in English, because it was the originall language of the history which is told. You can only pass this post by if you don’t want to read it.

This real history is taken from the web dear-god.net, which recopiles letters people send to god. There are thank letters, forgivness asking, and many others, this one I will publish here is about a ‘complain’ to god, if could be called this way…

Dear God,

You took my brother’s baby. It was cruel and horrible and painful and I don’t understand.

Nine months of the most perfect pregnancy. The day before she went into labor everything was fine; the doctor said it was just a matter of waiting. They were so excited, Lord. They’d read every book—and while some people may think they have, you know it was true in this instance. That’s just how they are.

You know he called me as soon as the contractions started. He kept careful count. He was so excited, and you know how he is, so stoic and quiet. But he couldn’t keep the joy from his voice—he was going to meet his son! And meet him he did. I saw the photos last night.

I saw that beautiful little baby boy in some sort of adorable macabre grandeur. I saw him dressed in the tiny blue outfit Mom bought him (her first grandchild!), clutching a teddy bear to his chest. His eyes were closed as if in slumber. But it was a lie. Andrew will never squirm and dream in that crib amidst a lingering scent of baby powder. He looked so peaceful and perfect in the pictures. Oh, how those photos deceive.

That beautiful little boy rested in his mother’s arms, her devoted husband holding her. It was picturesque. But I saw their faces, God. Grief and shock and utter despair. They had to hold their perfect little child—their baby boy—in their arms and know he’d never take a breath on Earth, never feel their embrace, never cry, never smile, never take a first step, never look upon their loving faces.

And the doctors can’t even tell them why. It just happened. There’s just no reason, they say. They’re right. There was no reason for you to take his life.

Did you see us remove the car seat from the car and hide it in the trunk today? Brother didn’t want her to be reminded. It’s silly, really. How do you forget holding your dead infant son in your arms?

And were you there when I looked upon the tiniest blue urn that was filled with the ashes of my only nephew? The nephew I’ll never hold or spoil or be the “crazy aunt” to. But I still got to love him—you can’t take that from me. You took him just like you took my stepsister’s child. Remember Tyler? Only 14, a great athlete, the whole world at his feet? Maybe Andrew and Tyler have met now. But I’m not sure I believe in Heaven anymore. At least not a Heaven filled with the souls of innocent children.

Brother would’ve been a great father—a bit overprotective perhaps, but great. Remember how he took care of my little brother and me when dad left? He was only eight years old then. Remember how he made us dinner and played games and told me there was no reason to be scared of the dark? And how he hatched that brilliant plan to stay up all night so I could finally see Santa Claus and not quit believing? He tried so hard to make my childhood last longer than his.

And Lord, you know how smart he is. PhD at 26, traveling the world talking about his research, fixing anything and everything without even a manual. He’s a genius. You know he’s hid behind his books all these years, but he’s so much more than smarts. People may look at him and see brains and computers and calculations, but he’s my big brother. He taught me how to fix a toilet, unclog a pipe and change my oil so I wouldn’t be one of those “clueless girls.” He giggles after a couple beers, eats entire pineapples, takes things apart just to see how they work, spoils his cats, and worships his wife.

And although she might have thought we were a little strange at first, his wife is an amazing woman with a strength I’ll never know. She takes board games a little too seriously, yes, but she goes through a book a day just like he does and she looks at my brotherin a way I hope to truly understand one day. Oh, God, how she loved that baby! She took prenatal vitamins, gave up her favorite Starbucks coffee, quit eating seafood, exercised, and read every baby book out there. Just like brother said at the service today: “She did everything right.”

But that wasn’t enough.

God, you had her deliver a baby that she knew would never laugh or cry or see her or know her or love her. She was told her baby was dead, but you still put her through the pain of labor, knowing no crying baby would emerge. The only cries she heard were her own.
I’ve never seen my big brother cry, Lord. He’s the strongest man I know. But he sobbed and sobbed and sobbed for a child he’ll never know. It broke me, God. If anyone understands innocent suffering, it’s you, right? Why would you take Andrew from them after all this?

After all our family has been through already? Andrew was going to be born into the kind of family we always wanted. A happy mother, a devoted father. He was going to have it all! But now he’s just ashes. He’s in a tiny urn, inside a velvet box, clutched to the chest of a sobbing woman and her husband who can’t be strong any longer.

I bet he had blue eyes just like his Mom and Dad.

Laura, Georgia/USA

There is also a comment I will like to share, this comment is from a user called Mike, and it resumes my exactly opinion of ‘god’‘…

These are the tragedies that leave religion dumbstruck. The truth can only be two things: there is no God, or there is a God so cruel and beyond all pity or shame that He allows this sort of agony. This idea of ‘it’s all a great plan, this death is just one of many, don’t worry it’ll all come right in the end’ – it’s an insult to the grief and pain real people feel every day.

Forget this idea of God. There is no God. This post shows where the real love lies: in our families, in the human heart. Your love for your brother is so obvious and true, it shames the very idea of a God who would allow this terrible thing to happen. Your brother, Andrew, and your family are the victims of the randomness which is the real truth of our existence. But your post also shows that you are lucky enough to also have great reserves of love and compassion to call on. That’s where your strength is. That is the real way, the only truth and the clearest light.



Comentarios

  1. Anis dijo:

    La historia sí que es triste.
    No la leí toda porque es larga y al estar en inglés se me hace pesada.
    Pero al leer el principio del comentario de “Mike” me dieron ganas de postear…

    Yo no estoy de acuerdo con que las opciones sean “Hay un dios que es re cruel” o “no hay dios”.
    Creo que “dios” es un concepto que abarca muchas cosas: desde religiones hasta simples creencias. En mi caso particular, como yo ya he dicho, creo en un “dios”, una “divinidad”, que en sí está dentro mío aunque uno la exteriorice, o la vea de determinada forma…
    Creo que el error que comete la vida es que cuando pasan “cosas malas” hecharle la culpa a un dios… Me quedé sin trabajo –> pa.. si es que existe un dios es un sorete.. y de aquí a casos mucho más extremos como el que cuenta la mujer con su sobrino.

    Más allá de lo que creamos, creo que estamos mal en atribuirle a alguien “superior” las cosas malas que pasan. Esa es la cosa, no hay que atribuírselas a “alguien”… no es por culpa de “alguien” que nos pasan las cosas (bueno, salvo cuando realmente alguien nos pone un pie para caernos). Los hombres tendemos a señalar con el dedo, y las cosas que no podemos entender porque pasan, porque son muy tristes, o muy dolorosas, se las atribuimos a “alguien”, para ahogar nuestras penas, para que nuestro sufrimiento sea más liviano.

    Y honestamente, la idea de “si existe un dios es muy cruel” me parece tristísima… el hombre le atribuye a dios lo que quiere, y claro, es facilisimo no hacerse responsable de nada y decir “es que dios es malo”… Yo no creo en un dios que decida sobre la vida y la muerte de los hombres. Creo en una divinidad que está para acompañarnos, para darnos fuerzas. Creo en la divinidad que AYUDA a que esta mujer “supere” lo que le pasó, o al menos siga teniendo ese amor que parece que tiene. En una divinidad que no es más que nosotros mismos, que proyectamos una energía hacia afuera, y vamos moviendo las cosas..

    lalala, no se si se entendió.
    Saludos

  2. Marcelo dijo:

    Anis, el tema es, el comentario ese (que representa mi idea textualmente), es “en respuesta” a quienes te dicen “dios lo quizo así” o “ahora esta mejor con dios” (odio cuando alguien dice eso, una vez recuerdo en el liceo, una familia perdió un hijo de 12 años, y los idiotas dijeron “ahora esta mejor con dios”, yo si soy el padre, la madre o el hermano de ese niño, muero de ira.).

    Entonces yo creo que si “dios lo quizó asi” respecto a esta historia, si que tiene que ser “un dios muy malo” o no haber dios y que como creo yo, haya sido todo producto del azar y las estadisticas (cada X, mueren Y)…

    Ahora, yo puntualmente no critico ni me quejo a “dios” cuando algo me sale mal, ni tampoco atribuyo a él cuando algo me sale bien.
    Tengo bien claro que las cosas malas que me pasan son producto de mis errores o mi mala suerte y las cosas buenas las logro yo, con mi esfuerzo o también de mi buena suerte ;)

    Buff, creo que solo eso :P

  3. Anis dijo:

    Capté…
    gracias por la aclaracion y sorry por mi post tan largo, recien me doy cuenta

  4. » Últimos mejores posts | MarceloFerreiro.com dijo:

    [...] Saddest history I’ve ever read [...]

  5. Marcelo dijo:

    Hoy volví a leer esta historia y la verdad que es muy salada!

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