They came rushing into her room. First Michael, then Gabriel Jr. and Christelle trying to beat each other through the door; then Geanna and Carmel rushed through the door at the same time; Gabriel followed and closed the door after him.
“Mom, oh, Mom!”
“Welcome back, Mom! We’ve missed you!”
“So glad you are back with us!”
“I love you, Mama!”
“I missed you so much…”
They all began talking at the same time. But Joyce interrupted them.
“Let me look at you.” She looked at each one of them in turn and she couldn’t believe her eyes. In a way, they still looked the same; yes, she saw grown-up adults but somehow, she still saw the little children they used to be. She looked at their faces and still saw behind these faces the faces of her little children she left a few hours ago in her time and twenty years ago in their time. She couldn’t stop gazing at them, amazed.
They stood around her bed, looking at her with love mixed with fear, fear of rejection. They wondered whether she would accept them, given she did not feel that she knew them anymore.
Joyce sensed their concern: “I love you… I love you all… I should be the one to thank you for bringing me back. Gabriel, your gentle voice always reached me and brought me back. I sensed that you were always here next to me, and I felt safe.”
She shifted her gaze toward Michael: “Michael, just hearing your name awakened memories in my mind and opened the flow of many other memories.”
She turned to Gabriel Jr: “I heard your sweet voice reading to me one day; you read from my favorite book and helped me to remember that and many other things.”
She raised her hand to Christelle, who held it between her hands: “I heard you playing your violin for me; you played one of my two favorite pieces. You played beautifully, and your music carried me to far away memories, back to when you were six years old… Thank you.”
She held out the other hand to Geanna, who in her turn held it between her small delicate hands and kissed it: “You brought me flowers, and you prayed the rosary for me… I heard you, and I am very grateful.”
She looked with much love at her baby, Carmel, who was now a cute young lady: “I believe you were the one with the soft cool towel wiping my forehead.” Carmel nodded, tears in her eyes.
“You see, each one of you acted in a different, unique way than the others and awakened different parts of my memory. I am convinced that I needed all of you to be able to come back – all of you working together but separately awakened my sick and tired brain. Thank you and thank you God, for the wonderful family You have given me and for all that You did for us.”
“Mom, we barely gave you anything – not compared to what you gave us through the years…and still give,” Gabriel Jr replied.
Michael continued: “You taught me how to always trust and have hope, so I never lost hope and I always trusted that you would be back one day.”
“You taught me how to read, Mom. Then when you needed me, I came and read for you,” attested Gabriel Jr.
“You taught me patiently how to play the violin, and it became part of me. When you were sick, somehow I knew that my music was going to reach you wherever you were.” Christelle smiled.
“You taught us all how to pray. I am sure that you remember how many times over and over again you corrected my pronunciation and my prayers, sometimes I felt that you gave up on me but maybe you were enjoying my mispronounced words. You taught us how to love God and, in your need, we prayed for you. You see, Mom, we only gave you what you’d already given us.” Geanna embraced her mother, who couldn’t help but cry tears of joy.
“When we were sick, you barely slept. I remember waking at night with a fever and seeing you next to me, taking my temperature, giving me medicine, cooling my red-hot face with a soft cool towel. I learned all that from you, Mom, because you served us so lovingly. We all were grateful to be able to serve you.” Carmel smiled.
“It is true, my darling,” added Gabriel. “You taught us how to love each other by your example of loving us all so much. You served us all unceasingly, always with a smile, and then it was our turn to serve you for a brief moment. We still owe you a lot.”
“I have always tried to remember that God blesses those who serve. I merely tried to live my vocation as a wife and mother.” Joyce, her eyes shining full of tears, tears of joy, sat in her hospital bed looking at her family one by one, not able to satisfy her hungry eyes and her mother’s heart.
***
After two long and painful months and two weeks, Gabriel and Joyce were driving back home. Silence was so hard for them. They had always enjoyed each other’s company and friendship, but all of a sudden there was not much to talk about and yet there was a lot.
Gabriel decided to take a different, quiet road – the one they often took at night years ago when their children were cranky and too tired to go to bed. The trees on both sides of the road looked much taller to Joyce, and the red sun sinking down into the blue lake and making the many little waves shine red like ruby brough fresh memories to her and old memories to Gabriel. He put a CD on in the car of their favorite song they both liked before they even met, and which later on became their wedding song. As they listened to their wedding song, the words flew around both of them and like an embrace brought them close together. They began to find their way back to their life together: “Around the world, I’ve searched for you; I traveled on, when hope was gone, to keep a rendezvous. I knew somewhere… sometime… somehow… you’d look at me and I would see the smile you’re smiling now.”
They looked at each other and smiled. Joyce realized that Gabriel by going back deep into the past was trying to build a bridge over her lost time, over the lost twenty years of her memory… trying to build a bridge from their past to their present. How many things he had to update her on and how many little precious forgotten memories she will be reminding him of. Joyce looked at her older-looking handsome husband and smiled, knowing that everything will be all right. He smiled back at her, glad to have her back with him.