Little miracles, big miracles... We live daily enveloped in them. Bathed, wrapped, winged in miracles. Yesterday I was shaken in the disbelief of my faith when my father called me with unspeakable emotion in his voice to tell me that they had found the child lost in the forest in the neighboring village, Sebeșu de Jos, alive.
For two days I had been waiting with a tight heart, praying and awaiting the outcome. Alexandru had gotten lost from his father when they had gone together to a garden at the edge of the forest. The man was working on a fence and, at one point, the five-year-old boy disappeared from his field of vision; anyone with small children knows that it only takes a few seconds of inattention for a tragedy to occur. Then he could not find him.
Troop upon troop, specialist upon specialist, volunteer upon volunteer mobilized to search for him... The following night they interrupted the search due to the fierce storm. We slept sheltered in our warm beds... He, the little one, where was he? Who was protecting him in the wilderness, in that bear's paradise? I was afraid my family would call me and tell me they found his clothes torn to shreds or some other unimaginable scenario...
With my children safe before my eyes, I prayed, powerless, to the Holy Mother to protect him as well. I prayed for a miracle... And yet, how could he survive in the forest alone, hungry, thirsty, lost, among wild animals??? How? How could he know to call for help in his situation?
Hundreds of people searched for him. Helicopters flew overhead incessantly, "as if in wartime" and, in the end, the Lord took pity. They found him! ALIVE!!! They found him in the forest near Sebeșu de Sus, my native village. In footage filmed from above one could see him sitting quietly, with his little hands folded together, waiting... Chilled, the little one was waiting for the sun. A radiant young man descended from the helicopter to save him, bearing this very name: Mihail Soare. What a "coincidence"!
Little miracles, big miracles... We live daily enveloped in them. Bathed, wrapped, winged in miracles. How did Alexandru survive two days and two nights alone, hungry, thirsty, lost, amidst the storm and the wild animals? Are we still waiting for an answer to this question...?
Georgiana Camalessa
Photography by Georgiana Camalessa