Mr S
While in England, I received news of a sad nature that Mr S, who moved to the older boys’ home a couple of years back, had passed away in the night. It’s believed his struggles with secretions and his weakened heart complicated each other. It was heart-breaking to hear, but I had some peace due to a conversation he and I had had before I left Thailand and from one I’d had via webcam, when a colleague used a webcam to help us communicate with each other.
While in Thailand, I used the Billy Graham foundation mini booklet to explain about the Christian belief in the way of how to come back to God. As I shared with him, he was vocalizing sounds of agreement, like this stuff was not new or confusing. I explained to him (as I have others in their last days and hours) that if he was too tired to keep trying to live, he could trust that God loved him ten thousand times more than I ever could and that he knew I loved him loads. He agreed again and I told him he didn’t have to fight on if he didn’t want to.
While in England, my mum spoke of Mr S often and how he was so brave, but so tired and she wished that he would be in heaven with her when the cancer would take her life. Right up to her dying moments, she spoke of him, saying that whenever he got there, she would be waiting for him. This is what I expressed to him via the webcam, because he had a bond with mum and needed to know she had passed.
Mr S was a bright and considerate young man with a body that plagued his wishes and a personality that shined through his eyes. I have the joy of the years I’ve known him and the very many memories, such as him in the electric wheelchair almost hitting the wall, but stopping with seconds to spare, or long spells on the iPad on the driving game or bowling, his joy at watching Mr. Bean and Total Wipeout, and his first crush on my volunteer’s teenage daughter. He used to subtly tickle me as I worked with someone else with his frail skinny fingers and have loads of joking and banter. I’ll miss our silent conversations through those soulful eyes and his beaming smile, which truly involved his whole face.
He was loved by many and knew it and had the peace in that to bear all that life threw at him. Praise God for his life and the impact and print he left on us all.
Nicola Anderson