Guilt, Fear and their effects

A senior gentleman passed away early this morning near my place.  Nothing unusual about elderly people passing away.  His son was away in foreign country.  Grief stricken, he must be searching for flight tickets to see his father's face one last time. He was here just a few days ago with his father who was convalescing after a knee surgery.  Nearly the same sequence of events happened when the senior's wife passed away a couple of years ago.  The son had visited her, returned and was on his way to his home from the airport when the sad news reached him.

This sounds too familiar.  Many of my friends and relatives have experienced this kind of a situation.  The son, tries to be with his parents during their last days, but somehow, he is not by their side at the right moment.

Is it the fear that is playing out here ... fear in the subconscious of the son who lives in a foreign land?  Does the guilt that he is leaving his parents alone play a role in such situations? Is he afraid that he may not be there to bid farewell to his parents?  Maybe, it could be a function of many factors - his closeness with his parents, the strength of his guilt or this fear, the distance and so on.  It isn't predictable, I am just guessing.

But one man dared to predict.  An old man, an astrologer by training, predicted the month when he would die.  He also predicted that,  when the soul leaves his body, there won't be any male members at home.  This was decades ago when the sons hadn't crossed the oceans in search of careers.  He told this to his sons.  While some of them took it in their stride, the most rational one dared to challenge his father's prediction.

He applied for leave for a month, decided to be with his father 24X7.  He used to take bath in the river but decided against it and took bath at home.  A few days passed.  He had to go to town to collect his monthly salary.  He made arrangements for that as well.  He called his son who was 12-13, asked him to be by the side of the grandfather and not to leave when friends call him for a game and left.  Within a few minutes, the old man felt uncomfortable... The woman at home sent the boy to fetch the father who must be waiting at the bus stop.  When no male members were at home, the old man left his body.