My mum was the 2nd eldest of 8 children, who
were and still are dedicated to family and church. They werent all that
wealthy, and with only papa working, it was enough for them to live on.
Papa was a devoted catholic who married mama, a protestant (congreational
christian church of samoa). Mum and her brothers and sisters were all bought
up Protestant. Now whether they came from different religion backgrounds,
their faith was grounded in One God, One Jesus.
A gifted family and so loved, there was soooo
much love for music, attending church and youth choirs, during family prayer
time, wherever, music and prayer was what kept them going and happy.
One night as they were preparing for bed, prior
to prayer being said, mums youngest brother of 6years, was coughing irritably.
He had been sick with the flu for a couple of weeks, but never thought
it was this worse. (After several visit to the doctors, they'd confirmed
he'd contacted meningitis). He almost woke up the whole village, with his
constant cries and cough.
Early hours of the morning, mama and papa and
mum couldnt stand it any longer. After numerous of massaging and herbal
medicine, it didnt seem to cool down his sickness, it gradually became
worse. Mama felt so hopeless and couldn't think of anything else. Papa,
being Catholic, grabbed lil Tu, and could only think of one place, The
Sr's of the Poor Mapuifagalele, Vailele, Samoa. Now, since the main hospital
was so far in town, and there was hardly any taxi cabs around, they - mama,
mum and papa holding lil Tu in his arms - set on foot as quick as they
can to the nuns.
It was about 2am and upon their arrival, they
could see only the light in the santuary of the chapel on, and everywhere
else was dark and quiet. After several quick knocks, a nun came to the
door. She took pity to mama and papa and the little boy they were holding.
Lil Tu was unseeminly breathless and his eyelids were twittering, his eyes
starting to roll upwards. His mouth was open, with bits of white saliva
coming out. He was sooo skinny, and looked like he was going to die.
The nun, didnt hesitate to take them in, she
called the other Sisters to bring holy water, something mum used to see
papa's sisters use to bless themselves with when they went to church in
Vaimoso.
They laid down Tu on a bed, his body so lifeless,
it actually looked like he was going to die. As the nun did the sign of
the cross, muttering words (prayer), she sprinkled the Holy Water over
Tu. At that moment he was beginning to twitter and wouldnt keep still,
the nuns prayers started to be louder. In a few minutes, all was quiet.
The nun ended her prayer with the sign of the cross. When her eyes opened,
she smiled as she watched Tu sleep peacefully. Mum was still for a moment.
She felt something happened. it was a good feeling, so did mama and papa.
It felt like, a heavy burden had just been lifted off their shoulders.
Later on the nun and mums parents chatted for
awhile, and stated that lil Tu had a gift, and that he'll one day grow
up to be a great musician.
They left that morning and walked back home...
Now, in his late 40s, uncle Tu is the Director
For Music in their Congretation Pentecostal Church in Samoa, America Samoa,
USA, New Zealand and Australia. He is a dedicated devout christian to his
church through music. His daughters are gifted musicians too, who have
already released various albums of Christian music and still continue to
make music...
If it weren't for the nuns prayers and the healing
he received those so many years ago, he'll never be here today. Now although
he didnt turn out catholic, mum's the only one of all her sisters and brother
to convert to catholic, taking on papa's religion.
The gift of music continues to flow through our
generation as we continue to make music to our Lord :)
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