Mom

Someone asked for me to write about losing my mom.  I have been putting it off, but here goes.  Mom died July 17, 1995.  She was 62.  I was 37.

In March of 1995 mom went to the doctor for a routine exam.  He noticed that something was protruding from under her rib cage.  She had not been feeling badly, it was a random find.  They sent her for a CT scan.  Liver cancer.  Later to be diagnosed as lung cancer that metastasized to the liver. 

We tried to get Mom and Dad to go to M.D. Anderson in Houston, but they did not want to do so.  They were content to stay with their local doctors.  Mom took chemo and went through lots of tests and procedures. 

Mom went to a church that taught that if you had enough faith, you could be healed of anything.  She believed that she was  going to be healed.  Consequently, she really was not interested in talking through some of the things that you might want to talk with someone about who might be dying.  Whatever our issues were, she left them to us to resolve on our own.  Mom died on July 17, 1995.

The funeral was held at the Muelbach funeral home at 6700 Troost.  A group from our church sang "It is well with my soul."  I did the memorial message.  My friend David Van Giesen led the grave side portion.

It was strange to lose your Mom.  It was the first time that I had lost a person that close.  Your brain thinks about a lot of things.  Fortunately, we were raising three small children at the time and they kept us pretty busy. 

I still feel badly when I talk to people who are 75 years old and they are going to visit their mom.  I did not get to have my mom as long as I would have liked, but everyone loves their mom.  Sometimes I wish that she had been allowed to see my children grow up.  She would have been so proud.

So, the moral of the story is that we all need to appreciate the people that we have in our lives.  No one lives for ever, and we should be grateful for our loved ones.  Take a moment now to pray for them and give thanks to God for them.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.