Courage to the grave
A mom observes a boy at her daughter’s grave. Matilda had been attempting to cope with the death of her daughter Stacy by devoting her entire life to the military. She had been on missions abroad for five years and had never paid a single visit to her daughter’s cemetery. But when she did manage to return, Matilda noticed that at Stacy’s grave, there was frequently an unidentified little boy.
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“Who is he? And what is he doing at my daughter’s grave?” Matilda can’t help to wonder.
After struggling for weeks, Matilda eventually decided to come closer to the boy. She needs to find out who is he, and why is he at her daughter’s grave.
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Every time, when Matilda tries to talk to the boy, he quickly ran away. It was clear that he did not recognize Matilda when he first saw her, just as she did not know him.
Only after he introduced himself did Matilda’s eyes open. By the time he began to explain, there was no longer any room for doubt.
Matilda was sobbing at Stacy’s grave.
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Matilda fell to her knees, her eyes welling up with tears. She only wanted to cuddle this small guy, who was now looking incredibly bewildered.
But how did Matilda get into this predicament? What was the young kid doing at Stacy’s grave, and who was he?
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Still hard time
Matilda was still having trouble accepting the fact that her daughter was no longer living with her. Although she had plenty of time to prepare, it was challenging. She needs to move past it and continue living her life. But it’s not that simple.
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The doctors had already painted a pretty dismal picture for Matilda when her baby Stacy was born. But Stacy was a fighter, and for a while, she managed to overcome all the challenges. Her strength constantly left her doctors perplexed. She was frequently referred to be one of the strongest patients they had ever had.
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It was a blessing for Matilda and her husband Joshua to spend each year with their beloved but unhappy daughter. They handled it accordingly, carefully cherishing each moment and maintaining as much of Stacy’s typical routine as possible. They relished their time with her.
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At the military base
Matilda was working as a corporal in the military, so she had to miss some of Stacy’s early years to maintain their normal existence. That really hurt her. She had no other alternative, though; further funding was necessary.
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This occasionally required her to travel for nearly a week. Every second was painful for the poor woman, but she knew that if she quit her job now, she wouldn’t have a daughter or a job in the future. She had to keep her faith and just go.
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So she made an effort to hide it, and when her daughter’s condition gradually deteriorated to the point that it was clear that her future was bleak, she decided to use up the entirety of her vacation time. That amounted to more than three months’ worth of vacation days.
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Unhappy about it, the military nevertheless permitted it. Stacy was now five years old and even occasionally allowed to attend school. She had put up such a hard struggle, and Matilda couldn’t have been more pleased. It was almost like everything would be normal, just like any other kids. But no, it wasn’t. Stacy still can’t make it, and it was time for her to end the pain.
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The ceremony that followed was lovely, but it was also extremely private. Only Stacy’s family and one doctor were present. This doctor had cared for Stacy and felt a strong connection to her since she was born. He maintained his word when he promised Mathilde he would stay by her side until death.
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Dealing with the pain differently
Joshua and Matilda would ultimately approach their daughter’s death in quite different ways. While Matilda was trying for any means to get away from her feelings, Joshua was able to embrace them. Additionally, the military would offer a sound remedy for this, and Matila took it all, trying to forget the pain.
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Matilda started taking on extended missions after extended missions, spending months at a time abroad and hardly considering her home nation. But of course, her relationship with Joshua was also significantly impacted by this. Over time, their bond deteriorated.
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They fell apart
For as long as he could, he attempted to support Matilda. But she didn’t indicate to him that a day would come when she would return home more frequently. He left her after deciding that enough was enough. Matilda was dealt a serious blow; she was at her breaking point.
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But Matilda resisted all feelings for a very long time. However, eventually, they will come up with you; for Matilda, this happened roughly five years after Stacy had passed away. Despite feeling like things were not going well for her, she did not anticipate experiencing such a serious mental collapse. She constantly think of her daughter in her arms, laughing, crying…
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Selling the home
She wanted to sell her home and get a smaller, less expensive one because Joshua had left her approximately three years prior and she was now hardly ever home. However, entering the house once more brought back many memories.
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Never visited the grave
The fact that Matilda had not paid a single visit to Stacy’s grave in five years made her feel even worse about the way she had handled the situation emotionally. What kind of mother would do such heartless thing? She felt so terrible and wished she could go back in time.
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Despite her immediate want to go and see her daughter, she was unable to do so because of her overwhelming sense of guilt. She simply didn’t feel deserving. She still possessed something or someone that could help her cross this imaginary line.
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However, this was not through want of effort. Matilda almost always drove by the cemetery or even walked along the edge since she was too ashamed to enter. She did nothing but stand there for a moment, gazing at her daughter’s gravestone. But she did notice something else during this time.
Something strange
She frequently encountered the same people every few days, and the graveyard was frequently rather busy. And a young boy was present among them. She had initially assumed that he had likely traveled with his parents or grandparents to honor and see family relatives. However, the more she observed him, the more she realized he was never alone.
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Then something else appeared. The boy’s presence did not first appear to be for the sole purpose of visiting a grave. He constantly seemed to visit the same person. Even though this was, of course, not remarkable in and of itself, the specific grave was.
Same grave every time
The young child who Matilda was positive she had never seen or heard about before seemed to be present at her daughter Stacy’s grave constantly! Simply put, Matilda was unable to understand what he was doing there. She decides to approach him and inquire about his activity at her daughter’s grave.
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But as soon as the youngster saw Matilda coming toward him, he began to flee as quickly as possible. Matilda shouted after him and enquired about him. Yet it was useless. The young boy moved far too quickly, and he had vanished from sight within a few seconds.
She pondered running after him, but she thought about how it would appear if a grown woman ran after a young child through a cemetery while yelling and screaming at him. She wasn’t able to do much. Additionally, she no longer has the same condition as when she regularly exercised. She couldn’t possibly catch up to the boy.
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Who is he?
However, as Matilda approached the youngster, she unintentionally moved closer than she had in the previous five years to Stacy’s grave. Matilda experienced a surge of anxiety out of the blue. And she experienced something for the first time in her life. She appeared to be company…
Stacy was simply lying there. Her daughter’s final burial place was only a few meters away. It was a really deep breath for Matilda. She was aware that she had to make those last moves. Some of those steps were the most difficult of her life. But she succeeded in doing it.
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When Matilda eventually came face to face with Stacy’s grave marker once more and saw her name engraved on it in lovely lettering, tears welled up in her eyes. It was a traditional gravestone with the words “who will remember her most” at the bottom.
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Matilda’s name was also listed, along with the names of their parents and her ex-husband Joshua. But Mathilda then noticed it. On the gravestone, in addition to her name, was that of another person. A name she was unfamiliar with. She checked to see whether she was mistaken by blinking her eyes twice.
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Jimmy was listed as the name on the headstone. Who might this be, anyway? Matilda was aware that this was not on Stacy’s grave stone when she last looked at it. The time of Stacy’s burial. How was it possible to add another name here without her knowledge? She was totally taken aback.
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Matilda began to reflect. Could this potentially be connected to the young boy? Was he maybe Jimmy? However, how was she supposed to make sense of this? If you simply know a young boy’s first name, how can you immediately go and look for him?
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Matilda knew she would have to run into him once again, and the only place she knew this might be possible was in the cemetery. He might return to the grave, who knows. Her alternatives were limited. She didn’t even have the name or the phone number.
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Matilda then said her goodbyes to Stacy after paying her respects. To see if she could spot the young child again, she would go back every day at around the same hour. She will meet the boy even though she needs to visit the graveyard every day for several weeks.
It took Matilda approximately a week of driving by the cemetery before she finally ran into him again. He appeared a little concerned, perhaps fearing Matilda might pursue him again. But he turned his head as soon as he noticed Mathilda staring at her.
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She quietly attempted to approach the boy closer after parking the automobile. But since Matilda was still some distance away, the boy abruptly turned back and began sprinting again. For this, Mathilde was ready.
Jimmy
Matilda was able to stop him this time. Simply shouting the name Jimmy caused the child to halt in his tracks and turn around rather than run after him. His look conveyed a lot. He appeared to be genuinely shocked.
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Matilda approached the boy cautiously. She had so many questions that only he, or at least she hoped he could, answer that she did not want to scare him off again. But Jimmy was the one who asked Matilda the very first question. He said in a slightly trembling voice:
How did you learn my name? Matilda revealed that Stacy’s name was written on the gravestone and that it was missing when she last left it. She added that she hadn’t been there recently, so she wasn’t sure how long the name had been there.
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Jimmy’s expression of amazement grew as Matilda continued by revealing that she was in fact, Stacy’s mother. Then he exclaimed, “That is not possible!” while crying and shouting in unison. Matilda was at a loss for words as the boy continued to yell. Matilda tried to knee down and hug him.
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“You’re not my mother, and Stacy is my sister! The boy yells, “You’re lying, you’re tricking me. Before Matilda could confront the youngster about what she was hearing—which she could not believe—she heard a familiar voice behind her.
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“I believe I need to make some explanations,” Matilda had trouble believing it. It took a moment for it to sink in, but she had no doubts about who this was. She made a U-turn. “Joshua?” Matilda believes she is dreaming but is actually awake.
Joshua, Matilda’s former husband, was standing behind her. He had hardly altered at all in all those years, merely getting a tiny bit bigger. Now Matilda had even more questions, but as Jimmy yelled, “Dad!” many of them were promptly addressed.
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Explaining Everything
Matilda was placed on a bench by Joshua, who then began to explain everything. Jimmy was, in fact, his son. He had previously felt terribly abandoned by Matilda in the previous years of their relationship because she was often out on missions.
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He had recruited someone else to “keep him company” for this reason, but completely against their expectations, she fell pregnant. They opt to raise the child. All this time, he had kept Matilda in the dark about everything.
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After much soul-searching, Joshua came to the conclusion that he wanted to be there for this new woman and his unborn kid. As a result, he divorced the absent Matilda and began his new life. Not a day, he claims, goes by when he doesn’t think of her.
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Joshua had informed Jimmy about his sister Stacy, who unhappily no longer lived with them when Jimmy was about 2.5 years old. The boy, however, was too little to comprehend that Stacy was a half-sister because she was a daughter from a prior marriage.
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He felt instantly linked to Stacy after Joshua showed him the grave. He desired to be around those who remembered her the most. Joshua gave in because he was moved by it. Expecially after starting read Bible, he believes that Stacy would feel his love from now that she is in God’s arms.
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They now visited the burial once weekly, but Joshua, like Matilda, still struggled to view his daughter’s grave. He frequently waited in the car while Jimmy visited since, in his eyes, having a new family was a betrayal to her.
Now that everything had been clarified, Matilda had no problem with Jimmy’s name being engraved on the headstone. Additionally, she and Joshua reassured one another that they had done a good job raising Stacy, which made it much simpler for them to pay their respects at her cemetery in the future.
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