Families across Fiji will celebrate Mother’s Day today with gifts, feasting and laughter. But for families of the nine fishermen still missing at sea, there will be little reason to celebrate.
Instead of gifts and embraces, today has arrived with tears and the ache of uncertainty that has lingered for two weeks.
Yesterday, in waters of Laucala Bay, grieving families gathered at the memorial service for the missing men.
There were no coffins. Only wreaths placed gently onto the sea – the same sea believed to have swallowed the men without warning.
For expectant mothers Veronika Tabuakacivi and Joana Vukatava, Mother’s Day will carry a pain few could imagine.
Their husbands left for a fishing trip with seven other men and never returned.
Now both women face the terrifying possibility of raising children without the fathers who had been preparing for their arrival.
“Our children won’t see their fathers ever,” Mrs Vukatava said.
Among the missing is her husband and expectant father Mateo Tikoitoga, who had been eagerly waiting to welcome his first child.
Mrs Tabuakacivi said every corner of their home now reminded her of the man who dreamed of becoming a father.
She now lives with the painful uncertainty of whether their unborn child will ever know the sound of his voice or feel his embrace.
Distraught mother and wife Miliakere Divadra struggles through sleepless nights thinking about her husband and two sons, all among the missing fishermen.
“My husband and sons are the strength of our home. My sons make sure there is food for us and check on me every day,” she said.
“The house feels empty without their voices.”
She said Mother’s Day would never feel the same until her boys returned.
“People are celebrating today, but for us, we are only praying. All I want is for them to be found. They are the men of our homes, now we are left as ladies.”
