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The date was January 12, 2010.
Exactly 15 years ago today.
The place was the island of Hispaniola; comprised of the
countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The person was a young lady by the name of Molly Mackenzie
Hightower.
I never knew Molly, but she was a distant cousin of mine. She
had recently graduated with a double major, spoke French, and volunteered as a
physical therapist in a Catholic disabled children’s orphanage in Haiti.
Although I never knew Molly, the world has been given some entre
into her life as the result of an internet blog she maintained. I have also
been privileged to interact with her uncle, a Catholic priest, and her father
and brother. The photos of my dear cousin and those precious orphans are
compelling. She was one of those people you meet a few times in a lifetime; who
literally seem to shine from within.
Even in the photographs an ethereal glow lights up her face.
Molly happened to be in her dormitory when the earthquake did
its worst work on that impoverished island. While her family and friends hoped
against hope that she would be rescued, it was not to be. She was found several
days later midst the rubble of the dormitory. It can be said that she gave the
last full measure of devotion for the children whom she had grown to love.
Sometimes we find ourselves taking people like Molly for
granted. They sense a “call” to a work overseas which 99.9 percent of people
would shun; in favor of some well-paying professional position in the states.
They toil for little or no pay. They work long hours; often without praise or
affirmation.
On their occasional sabbaticals home, they attempt to explain to
anyone who might listen what they have done, what they have seen; their
triumphs and their defeats. And more often, than not they are met with a smile,
or a nod, or a quizzical look; rather than a few empathetic words based on any
real understanding of the work and the challenge of the mission.
I would have loved to have been granted a few brief moments with
my cousin, Molly.
Time to assure her of the importance of her work, time to
commensurate with her about the joy which distills from the opportunity to
touch lives, time to talk about our mutual ancestors, and the possibility that
they, too, were at one time given the privilege of impacting this or that
person, whom God set in their pathway.
As strange as it may seem, I miss Molly; a dear relative whom I
never had the privilege of meeting. And yet, I feel I know her. And I’m all too
aware that the staff and patients of her beloved orphanage miss her in such an
inestimable and profound way.
I think we will never understand why such lights among us are
seemingly taken before their time; when they are in the midst of accomplishing
such a life-changing work, or rather, lives-changing work, since this dear
saint, and so many like her have impacted a myriad of the unfortunate and
underprivileged; whose only recompense for services rendered was a bright
smile, a hug or a few unaided steps.
They look very much like you or I, and shun the limelight. Yet I
think these are the saints among us; (though any allusion to sainthood would,
no doubt, be greeted by them with revelry and blushing).
People like Molly, though their lives were shortened, and though
they have so often done their best work in the worst places this planet
affords, managed to cut some indelible marks into the fabric of life and time.
And their love and works remain.
And they are not forgotten.
And the power and momentum of all they ever did, and hoped to do
continues, and has not abated.
For lives were irrevocably touched
…and changed.
And there are those among us who have, because of them, stepped
forward to fill the vacant space which they have left behind.
The world is better for people like Molly, who having walked and
moved and served among us
…remain as unseen witnesses to a continuing need, and the power
of one life to change the world as we know it;
…at least the world as they knew it.
by Bill McDonald, PhD
*Molly’s
blog can be found on the following internet site:
https://mollyinhaiti.blogspot.com
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