A beautiful Sunday morning, Anna

Jun 17, 2001

A beautiful Sunday morning, Anna content to watch the red-and-yellow mobile above the crib. Mixed with the mobile’s ditty is the sound of church bells, probably from nearby Our Lady of Peace Church, where Anna will be baptized into the community next Sunday. The peace and tranquility of this morning purify the uncertainty of the night, when Erin woke me around 3 a.m. to tell me she’d just heard an explosion, a scream, a series of gunshots. The sirens came soon after, just far enough away to be like a dream. I wonder now what might have happened, but I don’t wonder too morbidly, because to see smiles burst across Anna’s face keeps all dark thoughts from my mind.

Our friend Butch McCarty came for dinner Friday night, to meet Anna and present a gift. This yet another sign of Butch’s generosity; he sent boxes and boxes of books to us on Paama, big novels by Leon Uris and James Michener and others to keep us occupied on steaming hot days in between classes and clinic duties. It was Butch who sponsored a trip to the capital for Enna, Priscilla, Terry and Jimmy. Where these four amazing children are today I don’t know. Are they slogging through volcanic ash, or have they been evacuated to Port Vila? I wish they could be here listening to church bells.

Anton Zuiker ☄