This is the story of a mother and her grief. Saskia is a Flemish woman from the city of Heverlee. She got married very young, and it took her many years to get pregnant. In the end, she had a son, whom she named Adam. The birth was very complicated, and the doctors told her she could not have children. Saskia accepted this, as she finally had her baby in her arms.
Adam grew up and became close friends with a Walloon boy from Liège called Abel. They spent a lot of time together and were like brothers. Saskia saw this friendship in a good light. And deep inside, she thought he was the brother she could never give her son.
Fate is sometimes cruel. Abel had just gotten his driving licence and wanted to attend a university party in Maastrich. It was Saskia herself who lent them the car to go together. What could go wrong? Abel was a novice driver, but he was also a responsible guy. He had promised not to drink because he was driving.
And the unthinkable happened. On the way back from the party, a truck lost its brakes and hit the right side of the car. The place where Adam was sitting. He died instantly. Abel survived with some injuries that healed after a few months.
Saskia was devastated. Her son was her life after her divorce from her husband several years earlier. Now she was alone, all alone in the world.
The affection she had for Abel turned to hatred and resentment. Abel was also devastated. He had lost his best friend. Deep down, he felt guilty too. Worst of all, his best friend's mother wouldn't pick up the phone.
Abel had made two suicide attempts. A mutual friend informed Saskia. She was not sad because she still grudged against her son's murderer. Hatred is like arrows that shoot out of the heart and then stick back into the heart every time you remember the suffering.
One evening in December, Saskia met Gwendoline, their mutual friend. Gwendoline tried to convince Saskia to forgive Abel, who was not to blame for anything. And she said something essential to her, which remained in Saskia's heart.
If you have lost one child, another one wants your forgiveness. All the love you couldn't give to Adam, you can provide to Abel.
Saskia didn't want to accept it yet, but at Christmas, Abel knocked on her door in tears. She begged his forgiveness on her knees.
Please forgive me, and I can't live like this any longer.
And Saskia forgave him. Not right away, but little by little.
She started meeting Abel once a month. Saskia would visit him at his house in Liège, and they would have coffee. They talked a lot about Adam, but with affection, no more reproaches. Saskia
And little by little, they became like a mother and adopted son. Time passed, and Abel got married. Saskia was the bridesmaid.
In this way, what is written in the New Testament, John 19, 26-27, was fulfilled.
When Jesus saw his mother and the beloved disciple standing beside him, he said to his mother:
-Woman, behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple:
-Behold your mother.
From that time the disciple took her into his own home.
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