Remembering Marjorie

 

A year has passed since my mother, Marjorie “went home to be with Jesus”.  This was a phrase we used to talk about her passing.  She made this statement with a sense of seriousness and a sense of humor.  She decided the phrase would bring a smile to just about anyone, and she was right.  She was more than ready to go home during the last year of her life, but she still held on to some earthly pleasures.  Nature and her home continued to bring her comfort.

 Mom made the decision to go to Assisted Living in April before she passed away in August.  She hesitated to have items from home brought to Assisted Living.  She kept her home and visited it when she was able.  I realize now she wanted to keep her home intact because of the memories associated with her possessions.  A sixty five year history sat within the walls.  That history followed her through six houses she had built over her lifetime.  The seventh and last home was built several years before she bought it.  It was not her favorite house, but it was the container for her memories.  She delighted in the landscaping and wrought iron enclosed patio she added to the house.  She enjoyed bouquets of flowers from her beds until four days before she passed. 

My mom was a remarkable woman for reasons too numerous to list.  A stroke changed her personality and reasoning.  A hip fracture changed her mobility and she became wheelchair bound.  She had a compassionate heart that was strong and determined.   Her love for God, family, friends and nature never wavered.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her for many minutes after she passed.  I could clearly see a young Marjorie, RUNNING through a field of beautiful flowers.  She was closely followed by Trinka, Gigi, Cher, Tilly and Becky, the dogs she loved, lost and found again.  That would be my mother’s little slice of Heaven.  I thank the Lord for the gift of my mother, Marjorie.