[Editor’s Note: Each day this week, the newspaper will present excerpts from the new novel by Dr. Rosemary H. Cohen, “The Mother of Jerusalem Is Crying,” inspired as all of her extensive writings are by the sudden death of her daughter 19 summers ago, as she recounts below.]
The Preface, Part I
The clock was approaching nine at night in California. It was August 28, 1992, and my family and I were returning from Friday night prayer. The air was deliciously filled with the breeze coming from the Pacific Ocean. The sky was clear, and we could see bright stars twinkling above us. It was one of the most peaceful and beautiful nights in Los Angeles. The perfume of the night flowers filled our lungs, and we could hear the songs of some night birds.
We had decided that once we arrived home and had dinner, I would help my two daughters pack their luggage. They were going to leave on Saturday night for Boston. Mabelle was in her second year of college and Liana, who had just finished high school, was going to start her first year of college. Five minutes before arriving home, and exactly twenty-five hours before the scheduled departure of our daughters, a drunken driver hit us head-on.
When I came back to myself, I heard Mabelle and our younger son, Elia, calling me. When I looked for the rest of my family, I discovered that my husband, my older son Ruben and Liana were apparently dead. But immediately, I somehow knew that it was only Liana who had left us, and regardless of all the blood around them, Ishac and Ruben were going to be okay. Liana was just eighteen years old.
From the very first moment, regardless of my injuries and the tragedy present around me, I felt that God had come to my rescue. It was as if I had been injected with a magical potion, one containing an unusual mix of logical reasoning, peace and courage. I told myself that Liana was with God and thus did not need my help anymore. But there were my husband and three surviving children who needed me. The next morning, one of our friends who visited us at the hospital, told me, “Look at them. You are the main column of your family. If you fall, they will all fall.”
I still believe that God helped me in dealing with the enormous tragedy of losing a child and the uncertainty of not know what would be the fate of the rest of my family. Even now, looking back to that moment, I am surprised that I had such amazing calm and courage to find my strength to stay on my feet, forget my own wounds and pain, and take care of my family.”
(To be continued)
