Death was an omen I had not foreseen for a child who just came out of his mother’s womb. Death of aging grandparents was expected as they had lived for many years. Death of parents fighting a terminal disease was of no surprise. However, death of a two-month-old newborn was the least anticipated and had shocked his parents to the core. This was a story of Mel's sad past.
Five Years Ago:
My friend, Mel, had just experienced childbirth and being a mother for the first time in her life to a lovely baby boy, Justin. He was born healthy, and mother and baby went home celebrating a new addition to the family. The parents, Mel and her husband, David, had been ecstatic about the pregnancy and had the nursery room painted blue and ready for this new arrival. Baby Justin was the love of his parents and grandparents. He was been eating and sleeping well.
On one terrible, stormy night when Mel went to nurse him, she found that baby Justin was no longer breathing. This tragic discovery crippled her thoughts and immobilized her for minutes until at last, reality kicked in and she screamed for her life. In this case, it was the life of her first and only child.
They drove to the hospital in rage and disbelief. Luckily, they did not caused an accident in a road rage. The doctor proclaimed Justin dead as soon as the baby arrived. He had died from a congenital heart disease.
It was an incredible finding to Mel and David because neither of them had a family history of heart disease. Moreover, neither Mel’s parents nor David’s parents had a history of heart disease. The results had them all baffled, until Mel, in grief and shame, shouted out that David was not the father of baby Justin.
“Who’s the father of my son?” David asked in anger and pain.
Their story had a sad ending as Mel and David's marriage did not last past the year in which baby Justin had died, and the parents had never met again.