Four years ago today, my Mom made her journey from here to There. She lived with us the last three months of her life. I immediately offered for her to stay with us. Not just for her, but selfishly, for me. I needed every last second that I could soak up with her. And I did. And I saw death as I've seen birth. It really is quite a beautiful, inspiring miracle kind of thing. Instead of taking a first breath, it's taking a last breath. I didn't know it was happening until 30 minutes before. I was swept up into the serenity of it all. Just she and I, and whomever she "motioned" to come in the room with us. She waved good-bye to me. It was peaceful and felt like forever, only it wasn't. But for her, she entered into her Forever. Sacred. Peaceful. Holy. He was there.
So, this leads me to simply wanting to brag on my Mom today as I reflect on her. Even up until the end, she was funny, giggly, sweet, offering endless hugs...the kind where I asked if I just keep holding on, and she would let me...sometimes for a long time. Good moms just never run out of love like that. I was so proud of her even then. Her journey had so many ups and downs, who could keep count? Looking back now, I see so much of it so differently than my view of it growing up. But, mainly I see Faith and Laughter.
My Mom was fearless, for the most part anyway. In most things, she didn't care what anybody thought. And she loved what she loved. That would include:
* Her bible - she slept with it every night, without fail.
* Her prayer lists and prayer journals - always with specific names and needs and always prayed over.
* Her love of anything Christmas! There was not a surface undecorated for the holidays (any holiday, actually). You cannot imagine how magical our house was at Christmas. She made everything so special and sparkly. I felt like I lived at the North Pole and with Santa and his elves. Lights everywhere, more nativity scenes than you can imgaine, candy and baking galore and letting us open one present each day before Christmas, just because. Terri and I each had our own decorated Christmas tree in our bedroom. Yep, it was that awesome! So many amazing traditions and memories - lots of which we implement with our girls.
* Her green thumb - ya'll - she could grown anything, anywhere and it was always gorgeous! Even living in an apartment, she had her very own flower garden that was everywhere. She always had fresh cuttings of brilliant blooms in sweet little vases all over the house.
* Her silliness - she liked to surprise us with silly nonsense alot - watch out if it was April Fool's - she always managed to fool us and loved every minute of it.
* Her love for her grandchildren - she adored all four - Dylan, Amber, Emma and Molly. She loved to spend magical weekends with Dylan baking, cooking, reading, watch movies and snuggling. As her health made it harder for her to do this, she learned to mail cards and notes to the girls and do what she knew best - pray for them - all of them. She never stopped praying for them - ever. She loved getting all three girls in her lap and read to them. The sadness of losing Sherri and Terri seemed to melt temporarily when these girls crawled into her lap. It was special to see. She was so proud of them.
* Her feistiness - she could get riled up from time to time. It was quite a sight to see...hmmm, I wonder where I've seen that before?
* Her talent for sewing - she made every Easter dress we ever wore all the way through highschool. She let us pick out the pattern and material and then she worked her magic. Because of this, Easter was always extra special. We felt so pretty.
* Her love for her siblings - there was such a bond between her four sisters and two brothers. It's really hard to describe. I've never seen her happier then when she was with them. Her heart belonged to everyone of them.
* Her gift of encouragement - she always knew how to lift someone up. She prayed, mailed encouraging notes and said such kind things to them. She was often known to show up in hospital waiting rooms unannounced. Many times people never even knew she was there. She didn't want to get in the way, but wanted to be close by to pray for them. That was always so touching to me.
* Her pride in her girls - she always told us how beautiful, intelligent and brave we were, in everything that we did. Even at an early age in elementary school, she would let us know how proud of us she was. I miss this the most about her - her encouragement specifically for me. She knew me so well. We were way too much alike!
* Her gift of forgiveness - she had to do this so many times in her life with so many different people and situations. It was an example to me of how to live. It wasn't always easy, and she would candidly talk about that part, too, but nonetheless, still talked about why it was important.
* Her honesty about living her faith-filled life - not always easy to do, and she would share some of those struggles with me. Again, great examples of how it's okay to be frustrated, mad and hurt, but then give it all to Him.
* Her love of thrifty shopping - she found some of the most beautiful and neat things all for a fraction of their real cost. She made her weekly rounds to TJ Maxx, Ross and Marshalls. This cracked me up!
* Her love of singing - she never gave herself enough credit for her pretty voice. I grew up hearing her sing hymns all the time, everywhere. And I catch myself doing it all the time! I love that I got that from her. It's a sweet thing to praise the Lord no matter where you are.
* Her love for icecream and anything sweet and yummy - many a memory have been made eating icecream and cookies, just because.
Thank you Mom for all you ever did for me. I won't be sad today. I'm willing myself not to. Oh, sure, I could really benefit from you here, but it's not about me. You are celebrating and singing and praising God on His throne. And celebrating with your Sherri and Terri and so many other special people. You would probablly never believe you left such a touching legacy, but you have! And I am proud to call you Mom.
PS - I love you more!
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