When The Ice Melts

There are some things words cannot describe. The deep feelings of love felt by a mother for her child, the care and protective nature instinctive in oldest children for their younger siblings. The initial attachment only grows as the years pass, even when the adored child is now resting in peace.

The most daunting moment arrives as the baby is lowered into the ground. The mother’s face is eerily calm, starkly contrasting the distress and grief apparent in the previous weeks. No tears fall, the eyes stare without seeing, yet she would give anything to deaden this moment, to make it go away, to join her breathless babe.

Hot tears of shame roll down the oldest child’s face. Through no fault of his own, his brother is dead. He failed to protect, failed to lead, failed to support. He will never get the chance. A small whimper escapes his lips as the sorrow, pain, and guilt becomes too much to endure.

The father is doing his best to comfort his children, grasping his wife’s hand in his own, hiding his pain. The youngest child wraps her little arms around his sturdy leg, understanding that he is hurting more than he shows. The tiny gesture becomes too much, and he finally succumbs to his sorrow.

Those watching are unable to handle the awfulness of it all. The tears of the father causes widespread sympathy for the defeated family, the tragedy becoming more real with every passing moment.

Inevitably, months pass. The novelty and sadness felt by spectators soon becomes a distant memory as it was destined to be. However, the pain never leaves the family.

The most unbearable moment comes when it snows. The thought of the helpless child lying in the cold, unforgiving earth alone without love or comfort becomes too much. The mother becomes desperate, begging and pleading for her child to be returned to her. Happiness felt by others becomes intolerable as the winter drags on.

As time somehow passes and spring arrives, the torturous pain lessens. Never disappearing, and never far from thought, but acceptable, bearable. When the ice melts, the hurt is still present, but so is the knowledge that one day, they will meet again. When the ice melts.