Slice Of Life: ‘Life hasn’t been the same since my child died’

I married the woman of my dreams nine years ago but it seems like much longer. So much has happened since then and we’ve been taking life as it comes each day. She was 18 when we decided to get married after a year of courtship. We were neighbours and every morning while I’d leave for work, she would stand at the door of her home and smile at me. Soon enough, I sought her hand in marriage and she agreed. We had our first child two years later and he has now grown up to be a healthy, smart lad. Our second son came along four years later, and he is quite a brat – he likes to break all his elder brother’s toys. One of our friends then told us about family planning but before we could act upon it, we got the news that my wife was expecting our third child. It turned out to be a boy, too, but he was born just after six months of pregnancy. He was born with so many health complications and after a year and a half of ferrying him to hospitals and back, he passed away in 2018. Life has never been the same since our child passed away – we took so many loans to pay for his medical expenses and now all my wife and I do is work double shifts to repay the loans and make ends meet. One day, I hope I’ll be able to take them all for a nice holiday after I’ve saved up enough.