My Mom, Pat and her dear brother, Harold.
For your consideration…
So as I went into meditation this morning, I immediately thought of my Mom. Well that is not unusual on Mother’s Day. I tried to refocus on today’s message but I heard “No, the story of your Mom in the hospital.” That is the message.
I am not sure if I have ever written this little story her for the blog. It is a big part of a little book I have been writing titled And On and On and On. It tells the story of how my personal belief system developed. The story of my Mom’s passing is part of it. Part of that story is what I have been asked to share this Mother’s Day.
My Mom battled leukemia for many years. At the final stage she was in the hospital. Nothing more could be done and we were making arrangements for her to come home. It was her wish. Hospice was an enormous help in the last few months of Mom’s life. Her case worker came to the hospital to talk to her. My sister, Lori, and I waited in the hall while she talked to Mom.
When she came out she marched up to Lori and I and said, “Your Mom is ready to go but something is stopping her. She won’t tell me what it is. You need to go in there and find out what it is and get it resolved so she can peacefully pass.”
Wow, my Lori and I looked at each other. The case worker looked at us as if to say, “Well.” I told Lori to do it. She told me to do it and the case worker just continued to stare us down as in grow up. The truth was we were both a little afraid of our Mother. We didn’t know how to do this. I don’t know about my sister but I was thinking, “Hey, lady. You’re the expert. If she won’t talk to you, what makes you think she’ll talk to us?” It wasn’t as if we had not been there night and day and we had no clue there was a problem besides the obvious….she was dying.
Ultimately, cowards that we were we decide to go in and talk with her together. We each took a side of the bed. She knew…she just knew…we were up to something and we knew she knew. So, of course, we blamed her case worker. She put us up to this.
“Mom, your friend, says you have a problem. You are concerned about something. Is that true?”
Mom shrugged her shoulders. Yup this is helpful and going well.
“Mom,” I said, “Having you been seeing people?”
She shakes her head yes.
“Mom, is it Uncle Bob?”
She nods yes.
“Mom, have you seen Grandpa and Grandma Montgomery?”
Again, she nods yes.
“Mom, do they want you to go with them?”
Yes, she nods.
“Mom, don’t you want to go with them?”
“No, I do.” she finally speaks.
“Are you worried about us? We’ll be ok, Mom. If you want to go, we want you to go”
“She said, I know. That’s not it. I haven’t seen my mother. She hasn’t come. I don’t think she recognizes me.”
“Mom, that is not even possible. Could you ever not recognize your children?”
“No.” she answered.
We assured her that she would indeed see her mother. We were able to take her home and she died peacefully the next morning.
There is much more to this story but this part is what our message today is about. We are born wanting our mothers and we die wanting our mother’s. A mother and child bond is inherent to who we are. That mother who nurtures us and loves us unconditionally is forever tied to our hearts.
That is the HOPE and the joy. And so it is.
Bit by bit, piece by piece, HOPE by HOPE action steps anyone can take…
-Affirm…“I am loved.”
-Meditate/pray…ask…”What is my next step for my highest good and the highest good of all?”
-Drink lots of water.
-Get outdoors and take in at least 10 deep breaths.
-Celebrate our Mother.
What made me smile yesterday…
-Breakfast with my Vicki and Dianne. We met to plan our trip to Jody’s
-So my leg is still painful from the fall on Friday but I think it is better.
-A new dessert recommended by Alex was a hit.
-My son-in-law, Will, and daughter, Shannon, made us a delicious dinner.
-Watching Game of Thrones with Shannon.
-Flowers from Alex and Kathy.
Love, Blessings and Gratitude,
Rev. Chris
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