Written by:
Azuoma Anugomn

Just like the Phoenix

She had big dreams
She worked hard
She planned, she prayed, she projected
She achieved her academic pursuits
She moved in search of greener pasture
When it was almost within her reach
She was knocked down
Droopy eyes, slurred speech, double vision
Weak muscles, unsteady gait,
Falling while walking
Difficulty breathing
Difficulty chewing
From doctor to doctor
Blood works, needle pricks, pain wracking pain
Difficulty standing up, difficulty sitting down
When she sat down, she couldn’t get up
Muscles froze
She falls on the hall way, falls in the bath tub
Falls in the kitchen, almost burnt the house
Medications upon medications
Bloated and fat from Prednisone
No relief in sight

One crisis, two crisis, three crisis too many crises!
Intubations, extended hospital stay
Emergency rooms, Intensive care units
In and out of hospital
Too weak to keep her job
No help from government
Too many paperwork and Bureaucracy
Too weak to drive
Wobbles when walking
She was given a walker
Her gait was still unstable
One doctor suggested electric wheelchair or scooter
Insurance paperwork and delays
Still wobbling
Lost everything
Too weak to keep her job
Car repossessed
Credit messed up
Love flew out the window
She was now more of a burden than an asset
He bemoaned his fate
Want out
Sent emissaries to severe the tie
He did not bargain for this
No way!
Became more obnoxious
Heartless, cold
Tongues of poison
Tongues of hatred
She was reduced
Self esteemed crushed
She cried, she wept
Craved for death
Would have been a sweet release
From the pain and sorrow

Knocked down
Bruised and hurting
She reached out to the Higher Being
She reminded Him of all his promises in the Great Book
She cried, she prayed
She sowed the little she had
She bargained with God
She asked for a miracle
For a divine healing
But Heaven appears to be silent
The Silence was deafening
The circle must complete
She was not given instant healing
Rather she was given enabling grace for each day
Her faith almost failed.

The future was dark and bleak
Nobody to turn to
Nobody understands
The weakness or the pain
Some thought it was a hex
Crazy suggestions upon suggestions
Superstitions
But Nene came though
Lend a helping hand and financial help
Prayed and cried with her.
Left with nothing but her strong will
She looked into the eyes of her kids
And resolved to fight back
She was determined to live for her kids
Like a Phoenix she died
And rose from the ashes of her defeat
And demanded from God strength
To ride the storms.
She knew that when the going gets tough
The tough gets going
She dusted up herself
And kept going
And have not looked back since

More storms ahead
But she was undeterred
Because He who has her future
Neither sleeps nor slumbers.
She believes that she will recover
All the years the locust and
Termites have stolen
And she will.

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