He was gone!

01/08/2021
I had called to tell my mom hi & my brother said she was having one of her “off” days & to keep it brief as he had to hold the phone for her this time. She had been bed ridden since her hip surgery around Thanksgiving. I told her I loved her & she struggled to say it back this time. My brother said Goodbye to me but then called back about 20 minutes later to background commotion to tell me that mom just passed on right after I called. .
He said that he hung the phone up & asked my mom if she wanted a drink, which she refused so he was talking to her holding her hand & asking her stuff & she just breathed a few rapid breaths & passed. He immediately called 911 to see if there was anything they could do.
She had not been doing well off & on for the last few years. She previously had broken her arm in different places twice from falling, once in a store, but recovered from both injuries. Her last fall around the holidays left her with a broken femur which required surgery a couple days later. Unfortunately she has suffered for many years with osteoporosis making fractures more common. With her dementia getting worse, she has virtually not been out of the house in the last year due to the corona virus issues & lock down since March here in Michigan.
Praying she is in a better place right now. I do know that she was not a believer in Christ being the Savior. She had contact growing up with Christian & Jewish relatives & she once told me how she always played hooky from Sunday school. I was shocked to learn that they just sent her to the church down the street by herself. Great example for the kid. No wonder she didn’t go in. Churches are scary places to adults. I do know that she lived with the same Christian Aunt Ruth that I did most of her young life. She did teach me the Golden Rule & always practiced it herself. Glad I got to talk to her before she left. I personally believe that God is good, He is merciful, (yes, HE!) God is love. She is in heaven. Love you mom, see you soon.
Nothing is more silent than unfinished melodies….unexpressed thoughts…..broken dreams, dead or alive. We all think we are going to live forever, especially when we are young. We have all the time in the world. Some adults tell young people this. It is not true. No one is guaranteed anything. Not even tomorrow.
Make the most of today and what you have. Don’t wait for things to change, get better or even “perfect,” whatever that is. Don’t allow time and circumstances to make you complacent or worse to simply give up. There is no “do-overs” in our lives. I don’t subscribe to the “live for today” in a selfish manner of partying til you puke and having sex with anything that moves philosophy of the current mainstream media portrayal of our culture, which is really not at all accurate. I do say that if there is something you have always wanted to do and it’s realistic, then you need to make it happen. This does not mean you will succeed in your dream or plan but as long as it’s realistic and real effort is applied, there is hope that you will succeed.
I no longer condemn myself for my failures or shortcomings in my life. There were times when I did “bite off more than I could chew” and was simply not ready for the extreme work and expertise required for what I wanted to achieve. There were other times that I waited too long and my aspirations were no longer relevant to the time or even to me personally anymore. You outgrow things, it happens. Nothing in life is perfect but if you listen to all the experts paid to tell us our lives by the mainstream, as long as you do what they tell you to do “Nothing Can Go Wrong….” One of the echoing sentiments from the movie “Westworld” if any of you are familiar with it. They were wrong.
One of the saddest things about love is when you have to die for it. Why does anyone have to die for love? That defeats the purpose of love. We all need to start living for love and not allowing anyone or anything to make us quit, slow us down or stop us! We need to make sure that no one has to die for love again. Too many soldiers and men of peace have died since Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice over 2000 years ago. Too many lives are ended by those who have no hope or peace in their hearts. Those who don’t know what love is. Jesus gave us the knowledge that we truly can do anything if we have enough faith. He told us that if we really love him, we will keep his commandment of loving one another. If it wasn’t hard to do, it wouldn’t have to be a commandment, but it can be done.
You must be logged in to post a comment.