Blind Love and Faith
by
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When David left the room, Leah looked at her daughter and asked, “Mira, why did you stay in Toronto for so long? I am out of the hospital and I have enough people to look after me. You never talk about Jonathan, you never call him, and when he phones you rush to end the conversation. What is going on? Are you cheating on Jonathan?” Leah's face was flushed with anger and consternation.
"Oh mom, don't be so dramatic. We were just talking. And don't worry about Jonathan. With his work and studies he doesn't miss me at all.” In a flash Mira realized that it was the wrong thing to say but it was too late. “Tell me everything, Mira,” Leah's voice was worried and insistent. “Are you not happy with Jonathan? You don't like living in California? You don't like your job? What's wrong?” Mira had meant to say nothing. The last thing in the world she wanted was to worry her frail mother and she started by saying, “Mom, please do not invent…” But there was so much concern, and so much love and pleading to hear the truth in Leah's eyes that Mira's resolve collapsed and she started to weep. "Jonathan is cold, impotent, and unloving! He doesn't need a wife, just a show-piece for the synagogue!” Mira cried. "Mira, sex is not the only thing that unites a husband and wife. Children, common interests, respect, friendship, love…” Leah began, but Mira interrupted. "But I am alive, Mom, alive! And except for the children we have nothing in common. Jonathan is no friend of mine!” Mira's voice grew louder and more urgent as she tried to make her mother understand the depth of her unhappiness and depression. Then, in the midst of her outburst, Mira looked at her mother and stopped yelling. Leah's had suddenly became pale, her breathing was shallow, and her hands were clutching her chest. "Mom, no, please, no! Don't worry. I will stay with Jonathan. Just calm down. Please calm down, Mom. I promise that everything will be fine!” Mira wept, but Leah did not respond and her eyes rolled up in her head. "David,” an alarmed Mira shouted, “Bring water. Right away!” David ran to bring his grandma water while Mira rushed to call an ambulance. The ambulance came very quickly and efficient paramedics tried to stabilize Leah. Mira clutched her son in her arms and looked on with trepidation at their activities. Ten minutes later, the ambulance departed taking the ashen-looking Leah with them. Mira quickly collected some of Leah's clothes, called Sandra and Barry and rushed to the hospital with David. Within half-an-hour, the entire family was standing near the entrance to intensive care, waiting for the doctor's prognosis. "What happened?” Barry wanted to know. “Mira, did you have a fight with mom?” "I don't understand,” Sandra added. “Mom felt so well and the doctors said that the worst was over and all of a sudden…” "Nothing happened. I was just preparing dinner and telling mom about David's and my day, and then I looked at her and…” Mira let the sentence trail off unfinished. "It does not make sense. David, what happened?” Barry persisted. “Tell me everything!” Mira's heart skipped a beat. She could just imagine the reaction of her brother and sister when David would tell them about the fight, the screaming and about that blond-haired stranger. She looked pleadingly at her young son. "Nothing happened, Uncle Barry. Mom and Grandma were quietly talking and then mom asked for water for grandma.” David hated himself for lying but he could not bring himself make his mother even more distressed than she already was. Soon the doctor emerged from the intensive care ward and his sombre, grim look conveyed the worst news. Leah had passed away. Sandra and Nancy began to cry uncontrollably. To her surprise, Mira heard Barry wailing too. She couldn't remember seeing Barry crying, not since he was a small boy. Even at their father's funeral, Barry did not cry. She could see her brother-in-law, Alan, embracing David who was sobbing intensely. I must cry, I must cry, Mira thought. But she just stood motionless, paralysed by her guilt. For all of those seven days, Mira sat dispassionately in the same position in one corner of the couch, looking about aimlessly. She was not crying, not talking and not reacting when Jonathan tried to talk to her. She silently accepted the tea or coffee and the food that people offered to her but she ate very little. Only once she got up from the couch when Liz, accompanied by Jim, came to extend condolences to the grieving family. Liz introduced Jim as her boyfriend. Mira rose and retreated to the kitchen, closely followed by Liz and Jim. “What are you doing here?” Mira hissed while looking accusingly at Jim. “You have some nerve to come here after what happened! Don't you understand that it was seeing you with me that killed my mother?” "Mira, please calm down. I am very sorry for your loss but don't take the blame upon yourself and don't accuse me. Your mother's heart was weak and in any event, any wrong word could have triggered a heart attack. Please, Mira, don't hate me,” Jim begged. "Go away and let me be with my family,” Mira replied curtly as she hurriedly walked out of the kitchen. "It's a strange way to grieve,” Jim noted. “To sit around for a week… I have never seen that custom before.” "Mira is Jewish. Didn't you know that? This tradition is called `Shiva',” Liz explained. "I didn't know that she was a Jew. In fact, I know very little about her,” Jim replied coldly. For some reason he felt angry having to find out this bit of information from Liz. "Good, keep it that way. She has her life and you have yours,” Liz advised.
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About the Book
What more could a woman need when she already has a loving husband, adorable children, a supportive family, money, and a beautiful house? What would a man with a promising future and a young fiancée waiting for him in his home town want?
Mira and Jim were both looking for a simple, uncomplicated one-night affair. They got much more than they bargained for. Their relationship quickly became a whirlwind of passion and compromises. In order to fulfill their desires they had to withstand the hostility of their families and overcome different backgrounds. In the end, one of them would have to sacrifice…
Mira burns all the bridges with her family, only to encounter hostility from Jim's relatives. She starts the small business primary to prove to Jim's family that she is not a “spoiled, useless city woman', and that Jim's decision to marry her was a correct one. She dedicates her entire energy and time to her business and soon it grows into a thriving enterprise and she proves herself to be a successful businesswoman. She is obsessed with just two things in life: her new husband and her business. In this equation there little room in her world for anybody else.
But what might happen to a soul of a man for whom a woman has offered so much? And what about Mira's oldest son, David, the neglected book-worm who was torn away from his father and his beloved sister and brought into the world of his stepfather in which he cannot adapt?
And finally, what would be the fate of David's little sister who was told that she must be a good girl if she wants her mommy to return? What would become of this girl when she realizes that her mother and brother are never coming back?
About the Author
Elena Clark was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and emigrated from that country when it was still part of the former Soviet Union. She has lived in Canada for the past 33 years and presently resides in Thornhill, Ontario, with her Canadian husband, three children and five grandchildren.
Mrs. Clark earned a university degree in Mathematics and since arriving in Canada, she has pursued a successful career in the field of Information Technology. As a specialist systems consultant, she travels extensively in Canada, the USA and Europe. This affords her the opportunity of meeting interesting people from many cultural backgrounds and learning their fascinating individual life stories.
Mrs. Clark has endured difficult experiences in her past: the hardship of everyday life in the Soviet Union, emigration from her childhood homeland, divorce, sole responsibility of raising two children as a single mother prior to her re-marriage, building a life in her adopted new country, and dealing with the challenges of her demanding career.
Some two years ago, Mrs. Clark began to actively take up her long-held interest in writing. Observing the personal lives of many other fellow immigrants, friends and business associates, she became convinced that nothing can be quite as intriguing as the lives and inter-personal relationships of other individuals and their families. She believes that a simple life story is often more enthralling, in its own right, than a carefully crafted detective novel. Mrs. Clark's stories and novels are about the complexities, dilemmas, and emotional ups and downs that people face on a daily basis through diverse life experiences.