My parents had one custard apple tree in our garden which gave us fruits during two seasons of the year. One year in the storm it was partly uprooted. Yet the tree survived partially and continued yielding fruits till during another storm the tree bed got flooded and the tree withered away.
Anna preserved the seeds of the fruits and sprouted them and planted them. We have eight custard apple tree of two varieties in our garden. We have fruits in most them.
The picture above is of a tree with fruits first time, since it was planted as a sapling, which was born from the seeds of the fruits of the damaged tree.
Often the Barbets arrive to feed on them even before they are fully ripe. Yesterday, Anna gathered a basketful of them lest Barbets alone would have a chance for feeding on the fruit.
Both Anna and I felt awful when the a thirty year old tree which would have gone on bearing fruits for some more years normally, disappeared with only memories left with us.
Anna and our domestic helper dreamt a dream and grew the seeds to saplings and the nurtured them to fruit bearing trees.
Out of a loss, a new life emerged, not one but three trees from the seeds of the fallen tree.
Anna was the designer who envisioned for this to happen.
A loss is a doorway into experiences beyond our expectations. What is needed is not to retreat at the event of a loss but look for an opportunity to find the larger meaning hidden in the experience of loss!
A mother who lost her husband with two young children, got interested to be in touch with similar women. She shared how that experience gave her an occasion to honour the memory of her husband and stay grateful for his enabling presence in her life during the ten years of the married life! She became a care giver similar to what her husband was to her!
A loss leaves us grieving, but it also can lead us to a growth experience to redeem the calling in life!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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