Angel in Budapest

In 1998, I had a wonderful opportunity before me--to join a group of 90 international educators in  teaching active learning strategies to classroom teachers in Europe’s eastern bloc.  It was funded by George Soros of the Open Society Institute and staffed by volunteers from the International Reading Association, a large professional network in which I had participated for many years. The orientation and training for this work was to be held that August right outside of Budapest.

At the time of the invitation, my parents, Lewis and Cecile Bernath, were living in an independent living senior apartment building across the street from me where I lived in Mason. Long-time residents of Chelsea, they felt they needed more support in doing tasks--carrying in the groceries and managing doctors’ appointments.  They moved to be closer to me--their only child--and it was great to be so close to each other.

Several years after they moved, my dad died in November 1997, so my mom moved into a smaller apartment in the same building.  We began adjusting to our new lives together, but Mom’s diabetes began to get out of control, so she was hospitalized briefly to get that straightened out. With my decision to accept or decline the invitation for the new opportunity looming, we discussed it together. We decided I would go to Hungary, and she would stay for two weeks in a small adult care residence in Mason that provided support.  I enlisted 12 of my friends who also knew Mom to serve as medical power of attorney just in case she needed something. We also made a list of our friends who agreed to visit her every day while I was away, and scheduled who was when.

Almost two weeks into the training, I received a call telling me that Mom had fallen as a result of a visitor’s hug at the end of the visit!  Sometime after the fall, she needed to go into the hospital to address the pain in her stomach, but  I was told it was not necessary to come home  early.  

Nonetheless, I called the airlines as well as a phone number I had for emergencies. No answers, so that left me struggling with how to get help. Later, an almost unbelievable thing occurred  when I was walking down the street about 8 p.m. in Budapest. Quite by accident, I noticed a brass plaque about 5” by 10” that said “Open Society Institute” on the side of a large grey block building. I decided to try to get in despite thinking the building would be closed due to the hour.   To my surprise, a woman was walking out and she who asked if she could help me. I started to explain that I needed to go home to the States due to a medical emergency, and she hastily took me into her office--she was, it turned out, the Open Society Institute’s project director for Eastern Europe.

She was able to talk to someone in the Institute’s home office in New York, and booked a reservation for me from Budapest to Lansing right away. I was at the airport four hours later headed for home.

Both my daughter and I were with Mom  several days before she died of sepsis.   Although I’m  sad that this happened and still carry a certain amount of guilt for leaving her,  I’m pretty sure there was an angel in Budapest who blessed our family.