“A Mother’s Love for me…and Him”
Yesterday marked twenty years since she has been gone. My Mom breathed her last just after 7 a.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2006, only three days after her 67th birthday. I was sitting on the side of the bed holding her hand when it happened. It was just the two of us. It was a moment both precious and devastating.
As I ponder this memory, one of the more jolting things to consider is that I will be 67 in July. I am quite healthy. I anticipate that I have many more years on this earth, barring an accident or something else unforeseen. Still, to realize this is sobering.
Mom was a remarkable lady. She grew up poor. The daughter of an alcoholic, she was the ninth of ten children. Her dad died when she was only 13. She was the only one of her siblings to graduate high school. She played high school basketball, winning one state championship, and runner up another year. She was all-state, and only scored two points in her career. She was a guard in the days of three on three. If you know, you know.
Mom taught preschoolers in Sunday School for more than 40 years, sang in the choir, worked in the school cafeteria, and drove a school bus. She was a wonderful cook. She taught my wife how to make REAL homemade banana pudding…the kind where you cook the pudding on the stove, and bake it with a meringue. No other banana pudding is worthy of the name.
Mom was a strong disciplinarian. I once ran from her and climbed a tree in order to escape a spanking. Next thing I knew she was on the limb beside me, having broken off a smaller limb on the way up to use on my legs. I never did that again.
Most of all, my Mom was a lady who loved Jesus, and helped to instill that same love for Him into both my sister and me. She was very much a Proverbs 31 woman. And I miss her. My deepest desire is to be the man that my Mom and Dad trained me to be. They set a marvelous example for their children and grandchildren to follow. May God grant that same wisdom and commitment from me.
