The day dawned in the customary way except for a heavy fog all over that small town. John Isaac got up early and after his daily morning prayers to the Lord , stood before the framed portrait of his wife and ten year old son for observing few minutes silence on their loss. Two decades had passed since Xavier, his only son, did not return from the school one day. He was declared as ‘missing’ by school and other authorities. All efforts by John thru his friends and police in tracing him were in vain. The police finally closed his file with remarks that Xavier had been kidnapped and killed after the assignment by the ‘organ stealing’ group of another state. John’s wife developed a mental illness since then and suffered for two years. On her final day, she whispered to John “Please call Xavier. I want to see him” and then died. John’s emotional outburst on her end was beyond description as she was bearing the cross all these years. for him. Even his strong mental forte, that had infused courage in him several times on such tragedies, had a severe setback at that time. John relied y on divinity to come out of depression.
“Grieving could be the most difficult time for people. In trying to balance the feelings of pain and loss while going forward with everyday life, one can turn to God's word for ease and comfort to overcome grief”. Also recollecting his old happy and blissful memories with his wife and son, had often relieved him from melancholy moments. With implicit faith in the sermons of his religion, John also found solace in them and gradually began concentrating on his family business of coffin making. Backed by long reputation and with his local contacts, he was making only both ends meet. Unlike other businesses, in selling coffins one cannot solicit or offer any promotional incentives of any kind. Constant contacts with local hospitals and police department would lead to locate the takers. In his absence,there were no enquiries for coffins for weeks together. John was too concerned about his future business. The latest option of cremation instead of burial for lesser cost benefit, had become prevalent even against religious mandate. John looked thru the living room window and checked the finished units in the open yard for any damages due to celestial conditions. He was feeling frustrated at the sight of the work shed of joinery looked idle and deserted all this time.
On the flip side, with all these setbacks, John was also optimistic and aspired to become a big company in coffin-making using latest technologies in carpentary especially for ornamental coffins. Also he was interested in other allied businesses like funeral homes, embalming assignments etc. He thought corporate identity would help to tap the mass potential in natural disasters - earthquakes, wild fire, inundation and also bombed areas, etc. Historical evidences provide instances of mass production of coffins required to transport the dead during civil war in many countries. He was even dreaming his only son Xavier would take over at the helm of affairs in that ‘dream company’.. But destiny’s directive was different and John was totally disappointed.
He had read in foreign magazines that the coffin makers in western countries often get orders for ‘crazy coffins’ meaning the deceased in their last will, insist their bodies be buried in ‘crazy coffins’ .They were made as per their wish in the shape of giant guitars, plane models, etc. There was an instance that a man who couldn't afford to buy a boat in his life-time, wanted to be buried in a model one. Another instance reported was building a coffin in the shape of an old Rolls-Royce model car with wheels to enable pall-bearers push it. The sentimental side on these ‘crazy coffins’ was their satisfaction of getting it at least in their death of what they missed in their life time.
John was also curious to know about the developments on coffin making business in other countries. He had seen in a media news item of “The coffin club: Elderly New Zealanders building their own caskets. - Scores of retirees across the country have formed clubs so they can get together and build their own coffins. They say the activity is cost-saving and helps to combat loneliness”. It was also fascinating to read “Our motto is; it’s a box until there is someone in it. And while it’s just a box, it brings us together.” In the words of one member Jeanette Higgins, “it is stored in a cupboard at home, waiting for me.”
After his wishful imaginary vision, the thought of no takers for coffin for days together was quite disturbing him. All his efforts including repeated personal meetings of various contacts in the local hospitals had not made any break through.. John was never in such unprecedented situation of not able to sell even a single coffin for days together. He was aware of the present decline in demand. Finally John wanted to try with the mortuary section of a hospital located in the outskirts of the town. Though it was late evening, his intuition forced him to try his chances there. He walked the distance and reached the hospital. There were people waiting outside the mortuary for the person-in-charge to come. When that person arrived, John got a surprise that was his personal friend whom he called by the first name Mathew. John was confident as he could ask Mathew even informally for help in his predicament. He initiated the conversation with an enquiry on his welfares and moved on to his request whether a coffin was required as there were people waiting to receive their deceased from the morgue. Mathew responded negative to John as they belonged to a different religion that believed in cremation process. Instead Mathew wanted to know whether he would be interested to undertake a burial for an unclaimed body. He also offered an incentive that the total cost of coffin and burial expenses would be paid by the hospital. The death was due to a road accident of hitting a cyclist by a truck on a highway in the night. The victim was dead on the spot . There were no personal details to contact anybody and nobody claimed the body so far. After their formalities, the police also had given clearance for disposal. He seemed to be a Christian as he had a cross pendant tied to his arm. John was very happy at the offer and incentive that involved Government hospital prompt payment. As it was getting dark, he informed Mathew that he would undertake the body the next morning. Mathew agreed for this arrangement and gave him a letter confirming the terms.
John was jubilant on his success mainly due to hospital payment that meant more cost could be billed for the job. The whole night John was thinking about his extra efforts on that day to sell just one unit and the difficult trend was an indicator of gloomy future for his business. He was even contemplating an alternate line of carpentary for him in building constructions.
After his routine morning domestic tasks, he reached the mortuary section. Mathew was already there and greeted John with a ‘good morning’. He took John inside the mortuary and showed him the body that was covered with a cloth from head to foot except for the hands that were left open. After an inspection of the torso of the body, John checked the right hand. As Mathew said he found the cross pendant tied to his right bicep. When he checked the left hand, something was there that stunned his attention. At the very sight of it, he felt the whole world was falling apart before him and he was shattered to pieces. He wished what he saw was not real but a fantasy. To make sure, again he looked at it and instantly became very emotional. The cross tattoo in the left forearm of the body made him to react drastically. To clear his apprehension and be certain of what he saw, John checked his own left forearm; he also had a similar cross tattoo in his left forearm. He recollected and remembered their family custom to have a cross tattoo from his fore-father’s time that was carried on to his son Xavier also in his fifth year. He was just cursing the irony of fate that after twenty years he saw his own son lying dead unclaimed in mortuary. Mathew entered the room and wanted John to send the bill to him as he was the one to authorize immediate payment. Carrying the remains of Xavier in his hands and with tears in his eyes that blurred his vision, John said in a coarse and sore voice: ‘Thanks my dear friend for the offer; but I do not require any payment for the services in this instance". Mathew was surprised at what he said. After a pause in a choking tone, he continued. "The deceased was my own son, Xavier who was missing for two decades”. When he finished his words he became very emotional. Mathew was stunned at his emotive response. As John was leaving the room with the body, his daily prayer in the words of Reinhold Niebuhr -
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change things I can; and wisdom to know the difference”
