Hajja Salesjana July-September 2020

27 H AJJA S ALESJANA Nonetheless, that same night they put him into isolation in the hospital as a preventive measure. The following day he was taken to the intensive care unit where he was tested. The doctors told his wife that she could no longer stay with him - that she had to go home. A short time later, they called her to return to the hospital to say goodbye to her husband because he was in critical condition. She came to the hospital with a priest so that her husband could receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and said goodbye to him. That same afternoon they found out that the coronavirus test was positive. From that moment on, she and their children were under quarantine at home while her husband spent his final hours in hospital. She recounts that during all that time, the hardest thing was being unable to go see him, to be with him and talk to him. He was in isolation and they didn’t let them in to see him. The entire hospital was filled with coronavirus patients and no visitors were allowed. Meanwhile, at home, this woman, wife and mother, lived that suffering and pain with a huge heart. “ It is very hard, but Christ is supporting me. Knowing that He is with me on the Cross, that I am there with Him, that we are together, and knowing that my husband is in His hands is what gives me strength .” This mother and her children turned to prayer and found comfort: “We pray the rosary every day and we are making a novena to Saint Joseph that we already finished once and then started all over again. We add petitions for all those who are facing a similar situation.” With admirable faith, she shares that “There were days when I was taking it very badly, but now I am living this situation with greater peace and with acceptance. Accepting reality helps you live everything with less despair - still with the suffering of not seeing him but with the peace that comes from knowing that no matter what happens, in the end, it is God’s Will.” A few days before her husband’s death, she felt that she wanted to share with others how they were living this time as a family. She wanted to share this with people going through the same thing that she and her children were or who would have to go through it in the Photo by Sage Friedman from www.unsplash.com