The last four years of our Mom's life were spent sewing quilt blocks most days, resulting is boxes of completed blocks yet to be finished into quilts. It will take years to finish the quilts Mom started, which is a good thing. With the sewing of each quilt, memories will be shared, resulting in laughter, and probably some tears. So it only seemed appropriate for the family to use some of these quilt blocks to say "Thank you" instead of just preparing thank-you notes to mail out.
We took some of the quilt blocks made from the bright jewel tone fabrics that Mom really enjoyed working with and made them into hot pads.
Mom used up yards and yards of these different bright fabrics. Yellow was her favorite one, and her favorite color. I think it reminded her of sunshine, and that seemed to make her happy.
Our family has been called "not normal", but that's okay; we are a bit quirky. The most important thing is we love each other. We will move forward into the "new normal" that awaits us, remembering and reliving memories of Mom, who started this whole family along with our Dad.
Posted by Sarah
A few years back, a friend of Steve and I told us about God winks. A God wink are those times when you see something in nature that you were not expecting, that wows you and reminds you that God is real and who He says He is. An few examples of God winks that friends and family have share with us are: a friend coming face to face with a manatee while snorkeling, a family member looking out at the ocean just as a whale breeches, sitting at the ocean and seeing dolphins jumping and playing, seeing an eagle swoop down and catch a rabbit, or seeing a brilliant double or triple rainbow. Get the idea? These events are not everyday occurrences, so when they happen we tend to be awe struck by them and they cause us to think of our Creator. The evening of my Mom's funeral there was a God wink.
The family returned home after the services and meal at the church to bury Mom privately on the farm where she and Dad had lived together for over 60 years. After closing the grave, my nephew took my Dad back to the house where he sat on the porch watching the sunset, something he and Mom did almost every evening in the summer. A few of the family members were at the house, some of us were walking across the field to the house and some members were still near the grave talking together. When those of us who were walking to the house were about halfway there, we noticed a huge flock of birds coming toward us from the south. Being the first part of June, it was a bit unusual to see such a large flock of birds. Then someone mentioned that they looked like geese, which was even more unusual since migration north of most geese was past, and they weren't flying in formation like a flock of geese. Just before this flock of geese reached the fence row at the south edge of the yard, one goose honked, moved out in front, while the rest of the geese fell into formation. They then flew over between my brother's house and the road (his front yard) at the height of the telephone wires. Normally, when you see a flock of geese, they are honking at each other but this flock flew past my dad on the porch, over us, and over my Mom's grave so quietly, you could hear the feathers moving as they flapped their wings. And it wasn't a small flock of geese; my nephew counted about 40 geese in half of one side of the V formation. There were anywhere from 100 to 120 geese in the flock. Where they came from, since there isn't a pond or lake nearby, I don't know. The sight made us all stop and say, "WOW!" I can't speak for everyone in the family, but for me, it was a God wink. God is so gracious and so loving that it is not unlike Him to show that love to His children in this way. God sent those geese for us to see at that moment, to let us know all was well. He sent Mom her own personal fly over acknowledging a life well lived for Him.
"....Well done, good and faithful servant.....enter into the joy of your master." Matthew 25:23
Posted by Sarah
On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 9:54.38pm, my Mom went to be with Jesus. The last week of her life was hard to watch for those caring for her, her family. When I arrived early Thursday afternoon, I went in to see my Mom, spoke to her but don't know if she knew I was there; she didn't respond in any way. By that evening, all her children were at her bedside. We sang the old hymns to her and my dad before turning out the lights at bedtime. The next day, Hospice came out and confirmed that Mom was in a comma and it was only a matter of hours before she would pass. Throughout that day, we each spent time with her telling her what we still wanted to say to her. After supper, my parent's pastor, Jeff Martin, came out to meet with us about the service we were planning. See, Pastor Jeff has only been at my parent's church about a year and never knew Mom when she was well. We wanted him to know some more things about her so when he spoke at her memorial service, it would be real and meaningful. After sitting and talking with him for a while, my sister-in-law, Donna, came out and got my sister Lydia to come check on Mom. Her breathing had changed. "It's time to come sing." All of us who were there went into my Mom's room and began singing hymns again. We knew the end was near. My dad sat singing with us, holding Mom's hand. As we began to sing "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine", we all watched Mom's breathing as it was becoming less and less. As we were singing the second verse: "Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; Angels descending, bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love...." Mom stretched, closed her mouth and was still. We continued to sing the song, crying and holding onto each other. We sang her into glory, to her heavenly home. What a bitter sweet moment it was. We will miss you, Mom, but we know without a shadow of doubt the we will see you again on the other side.
".....she's a dancer in the garden....she dances with the flowers....in the early morning hours....she's a dancer..."----from a song by Larry Norman.
Posted by Sarah
