Beautiful in life and death

My Momma was the most amazing person I have known in my 57 years!  I would walk into the bedroom where she would be laying in her hospital bed and be dumbfounded at how beautiful she was lying there!  She had the most beautiful skin and hair!  I have started using Merle Norman skin care!  It worked for her, maybe it will work for me!! 

I marveled at how my Mom never complained about her pain.  I would beg her to tell me if she was in pain and she would comfort me rather than me comforting her!  She never wanted us kids to worry about her! Only when she would unconsciously wince in pain would I know that she truly was in pain.  She was the epitome of the word "stoic". I want to be more like her in so many ways.  She was loving, kind, thoughtful, forgiving, frugal, devoted, graceful, beautiful and, most importantly, Godly.

Her Rosary and funeral services were a testament to her life.  The funeral home and the church were filled to the brim on Sunday and Monday.  I looked down each pew at each individual there and was so proud and happy knowing that Mother loved each and every one of them and they loved her!  Once a person was blessed with Mildred's love, they had it forever.  She could overlook all of our shortcomings and love us in spite of them!  She was a beautiful example of Christian love and Godly ways.

To say that Momma was particualr about how things were done is an understatement!!  There was no way but Mildred's way! Our house ran smoothly beacause Dad generally let her run things her way!  But, I see that as an attribute, not a fault on both their parts!  I want to interject that Dad was absolutely the patriarch of our family and we were taught to respect and honor him because our Mother did! So, first we were taught to respect our parents and elders. Secondly, we were taught to love God and to worship and praise Him. We were taught to respect others and their property.  We were taugt to take care of our things and to put things in their proper place. We were taught to be stewards of the Earth and its creatures. We were taught to make a dollar stretch by the use of coupons, shopping sales, reusing items that most would throw away, turning off lights as we left a room, not wasting water, and on and on.  Were were taught to be meticulous in our personal hygiene and that an unmade bed made the whole house look a mess!!  Mother even taught us each how to swim, and she was deathly afraid of getting in water over her head!   

I can't think of one friend of mine or my siblings that she didn't adopt as her own!  If you came to Mildred's house, you were treated like one of her own kids.  You were expected to follow her rules, but you would also be nurtured and loved like you were hers!  Many of our friends called them Mom and Dad!

Daddy was her "Dreamboat"!  In the days before she passed, she would awaken in her ospital bed and the first question she would ask me was, "Has Daddy eaten anything?"  Her second question was, "Where is Daddy?"  Mother was a completely devoted wife.  It boggles my mind when I think about this woman, whom at 83 years of age, focused her days and nights on caring for Daddy after his stroke. Bless her precious heart, she fought tooth and nail when we wanted to have caretakers come to their house and help her with Dad.  It was only after she was totally exhausted that she gave in and allowed help.  She was even resistant to us kids helping her because of her devotion to Dad and because she did not want us to interrupt our lives or our rest!  She was one hundred percent concerned about others before herself.  Romans 12:10 says, Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Our Mother lived those words!!

In tribute to Momma, for the past two years I have been working on writing a story about a tragic experience that occurred when she was 8 years old, when she witnessed her mother being shot.  It had a huge affect on Mom, no doubt.  Last night, as I laid in Mom and Dad's bed, I realized that there is so much to be written about Mom, and that experience is only a small part of her story.  With the Lord's guidance, I will get her story written!  Of course, you can't tell Midlred's story without telling Harvey's story also!  Hopefully and prayerfully I will be able to accomplish that goal!  As with everything, in God's time!!

Thank you for loving and praying for Mom and for Dad.  Since her passing on Thursday, December 27, 2012, Dad is racing to be with her.  My siblings, Jean, Glenda and Danny and I were with Daddy yesterday and each told him that it was okay to go and be with Mother.  Over the past 24 hours there has been a marked decline in his earthly existence.  He lies now in a hospital bed and in a deep, unresponsive sleep.  I know that he is already in a dreamful state, dancing with her.  Pray with me that our sweet Lord will allow him to rejoin with the love of his life now in Heaven.  Close your eyes and imagine the joy on their faces when they reunite in Heaven's glory...the beautiful blonde and her Dreamboat!  In knowing them, God truly blessed all of our lives and made the world a better place!