My beloved Mom was the most optimistic, loving, kind, compassionate, encouraging and spiritual person I’ve ever known in my life. She was always there for me, so very supportive of every decision I made. When I was a child, she wanted to know about every detail of my time at school. As an adult, even when I lived at a distance and we were talking over the phone, she wanted to hear about everything going on in my life – the ups and the downs.
My mom truly loved people and was always interested in what made a person tick. When she was having a conversation with anyone, she asked a lot of questions to get to know the person better. She did that right up until close to the end of her life. I was blessed to coordinate her care for the past four years, and when I would take her to the doctor, she would even ask the doctor about their family so as to get to know him or her better.
She was the best example I’ve ever had of a Christ-like person, and she is irreplaceable. Mom raised me to love the things of God and taught me all about our Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ, and our precious hope. During the past few years while she was living in Palm Desert, I would read the Bible to her each time I saw her, and she would often comment on what I was reading. Even though her short-term memory was no longer sharp, she remembered about the things of God and the people she loved. They were most important to her right up until the end.
We both loved to travel, and I was blessed to go on many trips with Mom during my life (besides our many happy camping trips growing up), including trips to England, Scotland, Wales, many of the Canadian provinces, and several U.S. states. We also went on many trips to the Oregon Coast where we could get what we called our “ocean fix” during the 10 years I lived in Oregon.
I miss Mom so very much. I spent time with her on average four to five times a week during the past four years, and my life has been turned upside down since her passing. I am confident, though, that I will see my beloved Mom again when Jesus returns to set up his Kingdom and wakes her from her sleep. I take great comfort in knowing that we will be together forever from then on.
Rest in peace, Mom, until we meet again. I will always love you.