See You Soon



The hospital bed in the living room is empty now.  Penny lies beside the bed looking forlorn and not understanding why her “momma” left without her.  The house has finally grown silent after a rush of people…EMTs to confirm her death, the coroner’s office to check on things, the hospice nurse's return to prepare for mom to be moved, the funeral home van to remove her body.  And you know what?  That’s all they removed from this house.  They took her body away, but mom was no longer there.  Her spirit had left already and was immediately rejoicing to be in the Presence of the Lord and back with her beloved husband Richard.  She was at peace for the first time in months…maybe even years.  And so I think I shed three tears, because I could not be sad that she was gone.  I couldn’t even ache a little…because I’ve been aching through these last couple of weeks.  Her downhill slide was sudden and harsh.  In all reality, I believe she was gone yesterday.  The person who begged David through the night to get her up was not our mom.  It was our mom’s body but not her spirit.  She told David in the night that she could “see Dick…and those lights…look at those lights.”  She insisted she was seeing lights and told David to look at them.  David encouraged her to go to the lights.  She asked, “But don’t you see them?” and he replied that he couldn’t.  He said her face fell a little and she said, “I guess I just imagined them.  I’ve been imagining a lot of things lately.”

I don’t for a moment believe she was imagining seeing dad or the lights.  I think she was on the final leg of her journey.  I rejoice today because on Sunday she got news that a young teenager that she’d loved and helped care for as a child had made a profession of faith.  It was one of the last things that she was fully aware of.  I had told her the news and it had been received in silence.  I wasn’t even sure she’d heard or understood me.  And then ten minutes later she turned on the bed and said, “My little David?  From Hico?”

I’ve met her little David and been so impressed to see this 14-year-old boy care for mom and hug her when he came to visit.  He had repaired a stereo for her that became a blessing because mom could enjoy “her” music to the end.  She got the sweetest smile on her face and said, “I couldn’t have had better news.”

So maybe that’s why she was here this long…to hear the good news that someone she loved dearly was going to be in line to join her someday.  And right now she’s looking at Jesus…she’s seeing Dad…she’s re-uniting with her infant son, Andrew Phillip…there’s a family reunion with her mother and father and brother who had gone on before.  And like the song, “Thank You”…I believe there are many lined up to show her where her gifts of time and talent and service had spread to and how the Kingdom grew because she was obedient to God through these years.

The house is quiet.  She was a quiet woman most of the time…thrilled to work her crossword puzzles and enjoy her classical music or watch Antiques Roadshow.  She lived a frugal life…and by frugal I mean serious frugality.  She did so because she wanted to leave an inheritance for her children and grandchildren.  What she didn’t understand is how she’d gifted us with something far greater.  She’d taught us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable.  She gave us the gift of seeing what so many miss around them.  She taught us to treat people with respect and enjoy them.  She brought beautiful music and art into our lives.  She was a woman of purity.  We are blessed to have the inheritance of having lived with a Proverbs 31 woman.  She wasn’t perfect…is any mom perfect.  But she gets an “A” for effort.  The world was better because she was here.  I am better because we had this time together.  Her spirit may be in heaven…but a little piece of her will live on through my life and the lives of the many she touched and blessed through the years. 

Rest now, mom.  You deserve your rest.  You deserve your reward.  You will forever be remembered with love.  I’ll see you soon!