Mom was ready for a better place. One by one we each
filed in, said our final goodbyes, and told Mom we loved her. With the meds
dialed back she was able to quietly but clearly tell us she loved us. Her time
was short; she was ready to go home.
We gathered around her at Olathe Medical Center, a
small circle of family and friends, aware of the sacredness of these moments.
We prayed, we conversed, we waited. We laughed occasionally, sharing a favorite
memory. We listened for the rhythms of Mom’s breathing, noticing the beeps and
buzzes of the medical equipment. Occasionally Mom would pause a bit between
breaths: Was she gone?
Then she was escorted from us, borne upward on unseen
wings, quietly and gently lifted from this planet to a better space. Her
departure was simple and natural; she was not alone as she left us.
One year later we remember her, more aware than ever of
Mom’s love, her life, and her witness. We watch as the choir files in at her favorite
church, waiting to see the tall soprano on the left. We listen to a stirring anthem
or a favorite hymn, and instinctively we glance around to see the blessing and
enjoyment on Mom’s face.
We hear a note or two of music, played perhaps on a keyboard, and we picture Mom at the piano bench, entertaining us with her own
arrangement of a classical favorite. We smell something baking, and we wander
into Mom’s kitchen, half expecting to find her there. So many happy memories.
Mom’s life had clarity and purpose, focused clearly on
the eternal truths. There is no way to remember her without looking up, beyond
the chaos and the misfortune of daily life, toward a higher calling and a
greater love. With consistency and integrity Mom lived a life of faith and
virtue, showing us the way to eternal peace.
One year later her life is no less true, no less
virtuous. Out beyond the limits of pain and loss -- in a place where there is
no suffering and there are no tears -- Mom walks beside still waters, thinking
of us. There can be no doubt of Mom’s prayers and her intentions: That we, each
in our own time, will go to be where she is. Mom’s life and her example are
still pointing us in the same direction. Her life and her example show us the Only Son of our Heavenly
Father, who as an act of love stretches out His arms to invite us home.
