The unanswered question

The story of Adeline was a sad one. She was 15 when she got the diagnosis, Batten disease, a rare genetic disorder. Her mum cried that night in the hospital, the only child she could have would not live to 18.

The neurologist explained that Adeline’s brain cells were failing to clear out metabolic waste. It would be a slow, progressive decline, her vision would go first. Adeline was the typical example of a stellar student, she was intelligent, adventurous, kind, beautiful, you would just know that she would live a full life.

But now her story wouldn’t even begin.

Every milestone her peers celebrated, learning to drive, attending parties , applying for college, she wouldn’t experience it.

she would spend her final days in the hospital, with her mum beside her, her hospital room filled with letters and flowers from her friends and relatives, everyone was sad she wouldn’t make it. Adeline knew what was coming, but she was scared.

“She was just a child, why should she have to die”, She thought in those final moments. She said to her mother, “When I meet God, the first thing I would ask is Why make flowers and then snakes to hide beneath them? A world full of wonder but filled with monsters”

Her mother would look at her with teary eyes, eyes filled with pain and sadness. If only she knew the answer to that question, perhaps Adeline would not have to die.

I too have also wondered, what is the intent behind suffering, pain and despair? A world full of death and misery.