Just after Christmas I wrote
my mother’s obituary. She was still alive at the time with no hint her life had
but a few days remaining. I told my sister-in-law I felt Mom would not make it
to another Christmas, and I didn’t want to be caught by surprise as when my
father died. I don’t remember being prompted by any premonition. I just wanted
to get some thoughts and facts on paper with plenty of time for rewrites. Three
weeks later she died quietly in her sleep.
Death is inevitable for all
living things. That perhaps is a part of the definition of life. Life includes
birth and death and without these two there cannot be life in the sense we know
it. Yet in spite of our knowledge death will come, we greet it with great
ceremony and sorrow that reflects our own sense of loss.
So it was with my mother. She
outlived almost all her friends. Those gathered at the funeral were mostly
children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, and a handful of friends who had
known her in that small rural community from years long past. Tears were shed,
but there were also a lot of smiles and more than one echo of soft laughter as
memories were shared of how she touched the lives of so many.
For over ninety-three years
she had been family member, friend, and neighbor. Now all that was left on
earth was a cold, earthen vessel of embalmed flesh and all the memories in the
hearts of those left behind.
The grief shared by those
gathered in that small chapel was overwhelmed by the joy all felt for the woman
they had loved for so many years as she no longer suffered from early stage
dementia or arthritic hands and feet. They rather celebrated the freedom she
now enjoyed in a setting the rest of us can only see through faith.
I Corinthians 15:22-26 For just as all people die because of their union with Adam,
in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ.
But each one will be raised in proper order: Christ, first of all; then, at the
time of his coming, those who belong to him. Then the end will come; Christ
will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over
the Kingdom to God the Father. For
Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet.
The last enemy to be defeated will be death. (Today’s English Version)
I have written in earlier
months about the dynamics of older adult life. With the death of my mother, the
last of her generation in the family into which she married seventy-three years
ago, the desire to keep writing about older adults has lost some of its appeal.
No doubt I will return to the subject perhaps in the near future as I myself
look at my own soon-to-begin eighth decade. For now however, my writing will
take a different turn.
With this last and delayed
submission, this blog will come to a close. Perhaps there are those who will
look at some previous entry and find something worthy to read. If I live long enough
and write here once more, other submissions may also pique their interest. As
always portions of the Holy Bible will continue to be the foundation for my
worldview, and they will be my starting point for understanding the world in
which I live.
God bless you who have taken
time to read these random words. May you find some benefit in them in the days
to come.
