It's Been a Year

This blog entry may be pretty reflective but it hit me today that it has been a year ago today that I had my last conversation with my mom. I had flown up to KC for the weekend and spent some great time with my mom and dad and it was obvious that mom was getting closer to death. She was in and out quite a few times during the weekend. The past three months had been so incredibly surreal in some ways and in other ways, so rich and blessing filled. Little did I know that my last real conversation with mom would happen on this trip. I had planned on not flying back to KC for two weeks because of stuff going on at home and just the mere expense.

It was Sunday afternoon and I had stayed home with mom during church that morning and we watched Adrian Rogers together on tv and we also had watched a little bit of the Gaithers. Both of my mom's favorites. She was pretty lucid and we just enjoyed one another's company. She had talked about those who had died before her and who she was ready to go see. Jesus was first on the list and a very close second was her dad. He died in 1968 when mom was only 26. She missed him from that point on. I am not sure a daughter ever gets over losing a dad. (I think that is more a reality as I watch Sondra grieve her father who passed in September.) She was ready to see her mom and brother too. It was a very cool conversation. She worried that her boys, my brother and me, might have a tough time in this "mean old world" and she talked about my dad and how wonderful he had been to her for over 48 years. It was a rich conversation. Her mind was so very clear. Her eyes danced with that ornery look that I have inherited from her. It was a treasure of a conversation then, but now a year later, it is more precious than I could have ever imagined.

I miss mom. It is so good to know that what has been a year for me is only momentary for her. Her reality is so much more real. I long for that day. I am so very thankful for how dad has done. I know these next two weeks will be pretty tough for him as he makes it through the last of the "firsts". Pray for him as you think of him.

Remember Sondra's mom, Joyce too. She has been such a delight to have with us this past week. She heads home tomorrow. What an amazing woman. I love her like my own mom. I am doubly blessed in that way.