Last night Mark and I were lying in bed watching my favourite show. It's a 1 hour program where 2 local actors and a group of volunteers spruce up a needy family's home and help them improve their life... These families that appear on the program may need help from others due to various factors, not simply financially. All the stories are real life stories and all the previous episodes never failed to touch me. I guess one of the reasons why I am so 'addicted' to it is because it serves as a reminder to me that despite all the pain and misfortune that I have undergone, there are a lot more people out there who have been through worse.
Last night's episode was about a deaf/ mute couple with a daughter and an adorable 3 year old son. They could barely take care of themselves because of their inability to communicate with the society, hence they cannot hold any job for long. The boy however, is born normal, but because his parents cannot speak to him, his verbal skills are sadly lagging behind as he can only comminicate in the only way his parents know, i.e. sign language. The parents also cannot afford to send him to school because of their limited finances. Their daughter was given to someone else to care for and does not live with them.
As the show progressed, I could sense that Mark was becoming quiet and sullen. I didn't have to ask him to find out what was bothering him because I am thinking of the same thing that he is thinking of. Why is life so unfair?? Why is this couple, who is struggling so hard to take care of themselves and even their basic day to day needs, blessed with 2 kids that they can barely afford to raise? I'd like to think that Mark and I are stable financially enough, and we have a good foundation and solid marriage to raise a child (maybe even two), but yet we are facing so much problems on the road to parenthood.
Our tears began to fall as we rage internally and helplessly against what life had thrown at us, again and again. Is this some kind of cruel joke that the 'Higher Powers' are playing on us mere mortals? Are we all pawns in someone else's hands? If it is a joke, I am finding it tasteless and so not funny at all.
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