Credit- Humans of Bombay
“At 25, I married an Army officer. It was arranged; after we met, I said yes! I had no idea how to live the Army life; I had no family around since we were always on the move. But seeing my husband protect the nation, filled me with pride & courage.
Within 2 years, I gave birth to 2 kids-Gayatri & Tejas. When my husband was on duty, we could only spend summers with him. So we wrote letters; he’d send us drawings of the places he was staying at & postcards.
For every 2 years he was on duty, we’d only get to speak to him once a week. So I vowed that my kids never felt his absence-I made sure I was there for every moment.
Once, both kids ended up getting surgery on the same day-l was terrified & was in the biggest dilemma of whom to console first! I even learnt how to drive a scooter so I could take them to school. It was really hard to get Gayatri admission there-I visited the school everyday until she got in.
When they asked questions about their papa, I told stories of how he was fighting for India with a gun! But the constant moving was hard on them-so I’d say, ‘Papa is doing his duty & we have to do ours!’
After my husband retired, I finally thought we could spend the rest of our years together. We began traveling & even saw the Falaknama! But within a few months, he was diagnosed with cancer. We spent as much time with him at the hospital, but 8 months later, he succumbed.
I was crushed. We’d even bought a house where we could grow old together-he was gone before I could live out that dream. But I knew he’d have wanted me to wipe my tears for our family. So to make up for the time we lost with him, I told them stories yet again to help them remember him as a hero.
Today both my kids are successful & Gayatri just made me a grandma with a baby girl of her own! It was the happiest I’d felt in such a long time; having her around feels like I’m getting to be a mom all over again. And I know Gayatri will protect her fiercely. Just the way her father protected the nation & I, our family.”