Edith Taylor - Love Personified

Karl and Edith Taylor lived in a small apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts. They lived happily for 23 years and they loved each other very much. Karl was a government warehouse worker. In February 1950 the government sent Karl to Okinawa, Japan for a few months to work in a warehouse there. Although he was in the habit of sending to his wife some small gifts and postcards wherever he was sent to work, a short time after Karl went to Okinawa, hardly any postcards or gifts reached her. Also his assignment, which was supposed to have been only for a few months, got extended and extended mysteriously. Edith thought, her husband must be very busy; now he may have to work, cook, do shopping, clean his place of stay, etc. Perhaps he did not have time to write. In the meantime, Edith, who was a deeply committed Christian got an idea; why not I give a surprise to Karl when he gets back. She worked hard and gave a down payment to buy a small house.

However, after a short time Edith got a letter from Karl: “Dear Edith, I wish there were a kinder way to tell you that we are no longer married…” Karl married a 19 year old servant girl called Aiko, from Okinawa. Edith was 48. Although it was surprising and shocking to Edith, she took the whole matter to the Lord in prayer. Instead of getting filled with anger and hatred towards Karl, she felt compassion for Karl, a lonely man who always leaned on Edith for help. She felt compassion for Aiko too, a, penniless, perhaps illiterate girl who desperately needed a life partner.

Karl wrote one day that he and Aiko were expecting a baby. Marie was born in 1951; then Helen in 1953. Edith felt compassion and sent little gifts for the children. After sometime she got a letter to say Karl was in the hospital dying of lung cancer; he had hardly any money for the hospital bills. Edith sent some money. Also, she did all that she could do so that Karl could die in peace.

After his death, Edith offered Aiko’s two girls education in America, as all the money Karl saved for the children were spent on hospital bills. Although it was very hard to part with the children (they were the only reason for her to live on this earth), she finally accepted the offer and sent the children to Edith. Edith worked hard to take care of the children and their education. In a few years time she became very weak and sickly. She realized, she was getting old and the girls needed help. She decided to bring Aiko from Japan. However, Aiko was still a Japanese citizen and the immigration quota had a long waiting list of many more years. By this time, newspapers published this wonderful story of forgiving love. Many petitions were forwarded to Congress. A special bill speeded through Congress and in August 1957 Aiko Taylor was permitted to enter the United States.

As Aiko came down the stairs from the plane at New York Airport, what happened ? Naturally Edith had every right to hate and to be furious and take revenge against Aiko. She could have told her, “You are the one who destroyed my marriage of 23 years. You destroyed my life, my family, my future, my happiness, my health, my wealth, my husband” etc. etc. Instead, Edith went and warmly hugged Aiko and Aiko wept on Edith’s shoulders! Aiko found in Edith a love and compassion which she could not get even from her late husband.