While
we were waiting for the call we did some cleaning in Mom’s room. We needed another place for people to stay
during the funeral festivities. That was
an interesting experience. We found all
kinds of strangely designated keepsakes.
A church bulletin from Arlington, invitations to birthday parties, every
prayer list ever printed for our home Bible study group, any card she ever
received from anybody – from her 80th birthday to Wednesday Club and
Oleander Society functions, the tags from every piece of clothing she ever
bought or received as a gift. My two
personal favorites, though, were: an old unopened Discover Card bill addressed
to us (Sorry about that, Discover. I’m
sure that was one of those times I had to call and question why we had a
penalty charged when we never received the bill), and a hodgepodge of random paper
glued upon paper. Chris recognized that
one immediately. It was one of the “projects”
that Mom and Cailyn had worked diligently on one time. I made sure that one was placed in a bit more
of a prominent place for the time being.
Speaking
of Cailyn, she and her parents came over for lunch. A sweet lady from Seaside stopped by with a
bucket of fried chicken, so we had some fresh KFC to share when they
arrived. It was good to just enjoy some
hugs from Cailyn. She and I went back
into Mom’s room one time and guess what she noticed right away? Yep. She
declared matter-of-factly, “That’s the picture I made for MeeMaw.” I told her, “It sure is. MeeMaw was very proud of that picture.” And she beamed with a five-year-old’s pride. Earlier Nathan told me of a discussion he had
had with Cailyn. Seems she asked: “Who
is the oldest in our family Daddy? I
know who it is. It’s Uncle Jerry.”
He
replied, “Well, no. ‘Cause remember
Uncle Jerry is with Jesus now, so he’s not here anymore.”Wrong answer, Nathan. But he was quickly corrected: “Nuh uh, Daddy. He’s still here. So is MeeMaw.”
I’m sure Nathan’s mind was reeling with how he would come up with an answer to that one. But before he could formulate a response, she tapped herself on the chest and continued: “You told me she would always be right here. So will you and Mommy and Nani and DadDad.”
OK. Done crying yet? Best theology I’ve heard all week.
Psalms
25:6 says, “Remember, O Lord, your great
mercy and love, for they are from of old.”
Father, thank you for once again invading the grief process with the simple faith and words of a child. Amen.
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