Love Your Parents...

Right after work, before I lie down to retire for the day, I will always read. During one of my reading sessions, I came across this story which tells us ir rather reminds us that we owe a great deal of gratitude towards our parents. I know, most of us will immediately acknowledge that we do love our parents. But think about it. How much time have you spent with your parents lately? When did you last visit them? Or better, when did you call them last? For those of you who haven't done any of the above, may the story below be a strong lesson for you. Remember, what goes around, will definitely come around one day.

Once there was a feeble woman whose husband had died and left her all alone, so she went to live with her son and his wife and their own little daughter. Every day the old woman’s sight dimmed and her hearing grew worse, and sometimes at dinner, her hands trembled so badly that the peas rolled off her spoon or the soup ran from her cup. The son and his wife could not help but be annoyed at the way she spilled her meal all over the table. And one day, after she knocked over a glass of milk, they told each other that enough was enough. They set up a small table for her in the corner next to the broom closet and made the old woman eat her meals there.

She sat all alone, looking with tear-filled eyes across the room at the others. Sometimes they spoke to her while they ate, but usually it was to scold her for dropping a bowl or a fork.

One evening just before dinner, the little girl was busy playing on the floor with her building blocks, and her father asked her what she was making. “I’m making a little table for you and mum,” she smiled, “so you can eat by yourselves in the corner someday when I get big”.

Her parents sat staring at her for some time and then suddenly both began to cry. That night they led the old woman back to her place at the big table. From then on she ate with the rest of the family, and her son and his wife never seemed to mind a bit when she spilled something every now and then.

Think about it …. BIRTH, OLD AGE, SICKNESS & DEATH COMES TO ALL … Until you know what old people are suffering…fearing…Until the time when your age is catching up…you will know that old people do not actually wish to go through what they may be going through… Try to understand them and splash them some happiness to break their suffering… Know that older people get more lonely…and just how many days will they be with you??? Take care of them like the way they did…love them like they have always loved you…before they are gone forever.

Appa & Amma (Dr. S. Batumalai & Mrs Elizabeth Batumalai) - Am I blessed to be born to the both of you. You are both God's greatest gifts to me.