Birthday of Mario Emmanuel!

Today we celebrate the 12^th Birthday remembrance of my beloved son Emmanuel with love and gratitude; he was born on the 8 December, 2003 and lived till January 2^nd 2011. I celebrate this day because an angel came into my life and our family; and in a gentle way taught us how to love, and what matters most in life.

I look upon him as an angel because he was pure love, never harmed anyone and was with us ever smiling and bringing in a lot of joy. He was simple, sweet and laughed loud at the smallest joke, ever ready to embrace, hug and communicated gratitude with kisses in an most unexpected ways.

He showed love to everyone who visited our home; was very protective about his sister and would wait to jump the moment he heard my vehicle sound entering the compound. He loved to take ride on his dad’s bike and would stand proud and tall waving all of us, giggling away with happiness and sometimes even dancing with his own tunes.

Today 5 years have gone by but the memory is still fresh in our minds; whenever I close my eyes for a brief while; I still find him very close to me, resting on my lap, smiling, hugging, embracing and putting his hands around my neck. They say people who die do not depart from us but they are there walking closely everyday in everything we do. 

Emmanuel's 6th Birthday

Emmanuel was an experience that I can never forget in my life; after his departure my heart has become so sensitive that I keep looking for opportunities in wanting to help children with special needs. Very recently I found boy Emmanuel’s age and coincidently celebrates his birthday on the 7^th December and lives a little away from my residence.

So this year we as a family got in touch with him to join in for  his birthday; so we bought a cake and some gift to cheer him up and spend the evening with him. It was as if my son was alive and Mahesh (that’s his name) was so excited he clapped, jumped, laughed loudly as we cut the cake, he folded both his hands and thanked me, my husband and my daughter. He also touched David’s feet and came to touch mine…. it was too much for me to handle; I embraced him with joy. Mahesh coming from a traditional Tamil family has been well trained to respect and articulate in his own simple style.

We were so happy to spend our evening in his company; and we never missed our son. Mahesh was so much like Emmanuel and he was glad to interact with us; we hope to continue to stay in touch with him and do what we can to help him reach his potential. In the brief interaction with his family, we came to know that Mahesh is the elder child and has one small sister; he has been very attached to his aunt who looked after him and also used to take him to school, stay with him and bring him back home. Recently his aunt had a paralytic attack and there is no one to take him to school now.

Me and David with mahesh

We are now exploring ways to find as to how he can be helped in continuing his education; and we take this as our privilege for all the support we have received in bringing up Emmanuel; we want to show gratitude and pay forward to whatever we have received. We thank God for the gift of Emmanuel to us and for all the learning’s we had; Emmanuel made us richer, mature and helped us in our own growth. The season of advent is a fitting time for us to bring hope to many more Emmanuel’s who touch our lives.

My daughter Maria Dorothy with Mahesh

Happy Birthday Emmanuel!!  we move on with gratitude in our lives !! Thanks for being a part of our lives, bringing in meaning and purpose to our existence here on earth.