The Circle of Life

I’m suffering from Saturday-evening blues.

Every Saturday at around 5pm, a thunderclap of dread clangs inside me. When it hits like a ton of bricks that I’ve to go to work on Sunday morning.
Even though there are still some hours of the weekend left to run, it’s to all intents and purposes over as soon as I get that deathknell despair.

But today is even bleaker than usual, as it the end of my holiday too.

*****

As I was typing the above, I learned that my paternal cousin Sumaya who was expected to give birth today, has passed away.
She died during a cesarean.
Her forth child, a baby daughter, survived.

I didn’t know Sumaya. I never met her. I was saddened by the loss, and I went into tears when my dad started crying.
She was the youngest of her siblings, and she is of a similar age as my elder sisters. They knew her and they were all shocked with the news. Their response was more tearier.

Shock and sorrow was followed with anger. Apparently, a medical mistake caused her her life. To our disamay, the hospital in Sanaa is hurrying with the burial so that no legal investigation is undergone and the family is so distraught that they are not thinking of any action.

In Islam, a woman who dies in labor is considered a Martyr. Sumaya was known to have the kindest heart and had a lovely smile that never left her face. Allah has blessed her in her death.
Her end was the start of a new life.

I’m saddened for the baby girl. Few days ago, I visited a friend who just gave birth. My cousin, unlike my friend, will not be able to hug her baby, nor kiss her, nor tell her fairytales.
The baby will never feel her mother’s warmth, her affectionate hug, her tender kisses or her fond caressing.

She came to this world as an orphan.

Her birthday will always be tied to her mother’s date of death.

What a sad start.


Being healthy and young, Sumaya was not expected to die. When unexpected calls come in from Yemen with bad news, we usually expect news about the old and the ailing.
The old and the ailing will all be attending Sumaya’s funeral tomorrow morning.


Here I was complaining about going to work tomorrow, when I could be living my last minutes on this earth.
News like this are very sobering.


Sumaya, May Allah’s forgiveness, mercy & blessings be upon you. May Allah the Almighty grant you heaven.