THE CHILDLESS COUPLE - by Muhammad Mercurial

They measured timein calendars without circles,in months that arrived pregnant with hopeand left empty handed. Every morning,the wife woke with a questionheavy as a stone in her chest.Her smile learned to perform,but her eyes kept telling the truth. Depression did not shout.It sat quietly beside herlike a shadow that knew her name.It followed her to baby showers,to family gatherings,to prayers that sounded the samebut felt different each time. She watched other women bloomlike orchards in seasonwhile her own womb felt like winter,silent,bare,waiting for a sun that delayed. As Aristotle once said,“Hope is a waking dream.”But some mornings,even dreams feel tired. She blamed her body,as if it were a faulty clockrefusing to strike the right hour.She asked God questionsshe was afraid to say aloud.And at night,she cried into pillowsso the house would not hear her breaking. The husband loved her quietly.Not with answers,but with presence.He held her handswhen words failed,believing what Viktor Frankl taught,“When we are no longer able to change a situation,we are challenged to change ourselves.” So they changed how they waited. They chose love over bitterness.They chose meaning over mockery.They chose to widen their armsinstead of shrinking their hearts. Then one day,a child arrived.Not from her womb,but from the world’s many wounds. A parentless child,eyes full of unanswered questions,heart bruised by abandonment,looking for a homethe way soil looks for rain. They embraced that childlike grace.Not as a replacement,but as a calling.Not as defeat,but as obedience. The wife laughed again.A different laughter.Not naive,but healed.Her depression loosened its gripas purpose took its place. As Saint Augustine once said,“Hope has two beautiful daughters,anger and courage.Anger at the way things are,and courage to see that they do not remain the same.” Still, they prayed.Not with desperation,but with trust aged by years.They believed Godis not limited by calendars,or wombs,or medical reports. They held on to the promisethat miracles do not expire.That waiting does not mean denial.That sometimes God answers first with love,then later with life. The childless couplebecame rich in compassion,wealthy in patience,overflowing with grace. And if someday a miracle criesfrom her womb,they will receive it with gratitude.If not,they will still stand complete. Because they learned this truth.Parenthood is not only biology.It is calling.And hope,hope is faiththat refuses to retire with years.

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