The Worst Year of My Family's Life!

It all started when my mum decided she needed to visit her parents and grandmother before it was too late. She hadn't seen them since she came to live in Australia from Lebanon nearly 21 years ago now. She hadn't seen her parents and her grandmother in over 15 years. They were getting old and were not as healthy as they use to be. My father had been the previous year. They couldn't go together as my parents had 6 children they couldn't leave us alone. We were already in debt as my parents are both pensioners, so my dad had to take out another loan from the bank for both these individual trips.

The flight was booked for my mum (who was going for three months) and my brother Abdullah who would have been 9yo. She arrived at the airport and the trouble began. She assumed her bags would clear and they would be on their way. My mum was taking a little extra as her family was very poo. She took second-hand clothing, household items, and toys for the kids. The suitcase full of clothing and toys was refused. She even offered to pay more but it was not allowed.

She arrived soon enough in Lebanon overwhelmed with excitement to see her family. She arrived at the main airport of Lebanon and took a taxi to her old family 6 storey flats in Beirut. Dozens shared rooms sleeping on the floor, and using a hole in the ground to wee. This was home sweet home, as mum remembered it. She was one of seven kids.

Within the first few weeks upon her arrival, my mother was devastated to hear that her old and fragile, sick father who was in jail, had been refused bail. He apparently lost some important business papers when he was working years ago and because he could not find these important documents, it was considered stealing, a crime.

My mother also visited her very ill grandmother, that's right, my great grandmother! They found a tumour in her brain and she would die any day soon. They did not have enough money to operate so it just got worse. It was only days after my mother arrived, that she had to say goodbye to her grandmother who stopped suffering and passed away that night.

My mum mother was already suffering from diabetes and other heart problems, the death of my great grandmother only made this worse. My father had to send money over to Lebanon so they could operate on her heart as she was beginning to slowly ail and the situation got worse.

In the same month of her trip, my brother went to the local hospital, complaining of stomach/abdomen pain. They found he had appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed before it got blew up. This cost hundreds of dollars. He had surgery and it was a success, he has a large scar to prove it.

It didn't stop there, back at home; my father was missing my mother as they had not been separated in their almost 30 years of marriage, not once! We are talking about a man who was never sick nor complained of pain. It happened so quickly. I was the eldest child at 17 living at home at the time; I had to take care of him. My father began to complain of heart pain, irregular breathing and already had high blood pressure from a young age. As my siblings were asleep, I had no choice but to go to the hospital in the ambulance with him, he was complaining of pain in his lower abdomen area. I went with him to the emergency ward where he was crying like a baby and screaming, he still had to wait over two hours to be seen by the doctor. After several tests, he was diagnosed a disease which meant he had large gall stones in his body which needed surgery to be removed. He had this surgery while my mother was away, lucky it was a success. We didn't tell her until she returned. She had enough on her plate.

The time flew past and my mums 'holiday' was nearly over. In her last week she her family took her shopping for our gifts. My grandmother stayed home. After they left, she felt faint and needed to go to the hospital. She had no phone in her flats. Feeling ill in the chest, she slowly walked the three flights of stairs and down the long road, for almost 30 minutes to the local hospital. My uncle realised his mother was at the hospital, so he called my mother and they both raced there. They said she was not going to be admitted until someone paid. I couldn't believe they were so selfish. My mum gave them all she had left with her and promised the rest in a couple of days.

They agreed and took my grandmother in, it was her heart again, it was not functioning well, and it was only minutes later that she passed away. I think what if she had a phone in her home, a car perhaps, or even an ambulance service like we do here, or at least doctors who weren't selfish enough to risk a patient's life over money. This I believe all contributed to her death. Makes you think how lucky we are in Australia.

My mum returned a few days later with the happiness that she saw her family, but the regret and sadness that in that time, her grandmother and mother passed away, son and husband had life changing surgeries and overall what I would call the worst year of our lives.