Saturday, January 28, 2017

Dear Mom...

Some of you may have seen my Wednesday post on Facebook announcing that my dear mom stepped through the gates of heaven sometime early Wednesday morning. She had been fighting the Alzheimer battle for many years as my faithful  step-dad cared for her every step of the way. These are two of the most amazing people I know, and I love them so much.

I think it was Nancy Reagan who coined the phrase, "the long good-bye" when speaking of Alzheimers. That does seem fitting. I've been missing my mom's presence since her emails began to get further apart and then stopped. At that point my wonderful step-dad began emailing me and explaining what she was going through. They live 1,000 miles away and so I flew down to see mom while she still knew who I was. I'm thankful for that visit. I think it was the next year that Bob and I went down to see her, and she seemed happy and healthy, but it was obvious she just thought we were a couple of nice people who came for a visit. It is a blow to lose the last person in the world who remembers your childhood and can laugh and recall old memories. I'm sure most of you have lost parents or a spouse. The loss of someone who shares your history and memories leaves an empty place in your heart.

There's no way around this. We will all die. But there is hope and that makes all the difference. My sweet mama has made the leap from this world, which can at times be beautiful, but which carries so much suffering and loss, to that eternal world where she is safe with her Lord. She loves the Lord with all her heart and I know she's having an exciting adventure. That makes it so much easier to see her go. Our separation is only temporary.

I had many of the same feelings when I lost Bob in the fall of 2013. At that time I didn't want to look at pictures of him when he was older. It made me think of the fact that he had been very sick when the photos were taken and we didn't know it yet. Now I can look at those older pictures and remember the happy times we had when they were taken. Many of them were photos of him holding his much loved grandchildren. Those were good times.

So, I kind of wanted to post some photos of my mom in her youth. She was a fun loving person from the looks of it and I love these old photos of her. Her name is Mary Jane and she's a southern girl. She was born and raised in Angleton, Texas. Although we later lived in Colorado for around 20 years, she and my step-dad returned to Angleton where she lived out the rest of her life and was reunited with her sisters. I'm so glad she got to spend some great years back among her southern kin.
Grandpa, Mom and Aunt Dixie.




My Aunt Patsy and Mom.

Patsy, Dixie and Mom...the three Moseman girls.

 
Glamorous at 16.


She was the drum major for her high school during a big parade in Houston.

That's her on the left strutting her stuff.

Mom on the right with a friend. Mom's friends called her "Bird-legs"!

Age 16, in front of her high school.

Starting to look very grown up.

We lived in Deer Park, a suburb of Houston, when this pictures was taken. Mom captioned it "Mother Hen". This was a very rare snowfall in southeast Texas!  Mom and yours truly.
We moved a lot when I was a child, but mom always made it seem like an adventure!

When Mom was in her 50's and later, she had many other adventures, and I'm so glad she got to experience so many wonderful things. She went to YWAM's Discipleship Training course and traveled to Hawaii to do the training. I am not at all sure of the year that this took place, but that's not really important. I believe as a result of this training she later took a trip to China to do some missions activities. Later still, she took a trip to Israel! She was a major support for my brother James and his family during their many years as missionaries, and she supported my homeschooling efforts for 19 years, paying for all of our curriculum. She loved to serve "behind the scenes". As she got older she told me that God was calling her to a ministry of availability. She wanted to be sure she was available when people needed someone to talk to. She said so many people are too busy to just be available for those in need. She wrote an inspirational newsletter for her church for years. She used her gift of writing in many ways and she had a lot of wisdom from studying God's Word for so many years. She was a true gift to this family and I just wanted to let everyone know how special she was...and still is! She lives on in heaven and we'll all meet again and laugh and dance with our Heavenly Father! I know He's glad to have his little girl home.

We love you, Mom!
Shalom to all!

12 comments:

  1. Your post is so beautiful, Lisa, that I am raining down tears. What a wonderful tribute to your mother! She sounds like she enjoyed life here to the fullest. We know that even now she is enjoying a new type of life even more. I am sorry for your loss, dear friend, especially since it is only 3 years since your dh (and mine too) went to be with the Lord. I am so glad you have a supportive family. The thing I am taking away from this post is that your mother was called to a ministry of availability. How we need more people who would answer that call! How fortunate for the people she knew that she did answer that call!

    ReplyDelete
  2. what a tribute to your Mother! What a Mother she is! I am better for reading this story of your Mom, thanks so much for it! Her later ministry reminds me of my Grandma Ruth - she is there for people and is always ready to give home baked goods away. God comfort you in the loss of your Mother - it is wonderful that the separation is only temporary! God be near you and give comfort to you! HUGS!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful woman! What a tribute you've given Mary Jane here. God bless all those memories you have of her. My the Everlasting Arms hold you and comfort you, Lisa.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Lisa, tears come into my eyes when I read this love-full post of a wonderful Mom! I'm so sorry for her having this illness. What a present, that she was in good hands and hearts. My dear father had the same brain-illness. He did not find the right words, but he saw everything right. In one of his last nights he awake and said to my mother:
    "The flowers flourish, the heats burn, the door of heaven is open." He could speak! A few weeks later he died. After his going away my mother found a long-missed ring of their marriage under his bed. And a few days later she found a little paper with his writing:
    "People, who are no more here are more here as if they were here."

    Love and tears to you, your sister in Christ Dori

    ReplyDelete
  5. "The hearts burn" he said, not "heats" burn

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just 're-found' your blog. It had dropped from my reading list at some point...anyway...
    I so understand what you are going through. My mother lived with us for 4 years with Alzheimer's and it was awful. It is so sad to see our parents go from being caretakers to needing care and not understand at all what is happening to them.
    Your mom was a beautiful young woman with a million dollar smile. I bet she was as beautiful inside as she was on the outside.
    God bless you as you go through the steps of mourning. I lost both my mother and father when I was quite young and then my only brother passed away 3 years ago. You are right- there is just something sad knowing that no one is left that shares your childhood memories or knows what your family life was really like.
    Sending you prayers and blessings- xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had never seen your blog before but found it on someone's sidebar. Just think that maybe God led me there. You see, in 2011 I buried my beloved husband of 60 years. I had been caring for him for over 10 years. He had Alzheimers. I could have just cried as I read your post. My heart aches for you and for the loss you are feeling so deeply now. Just wanted you to know that I am here if you need to unload... my email is wbarton102@aol.com. I'm sending hugs and prayers for you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your Mom is such a special person. It's lovely how have all the memories of her, and pictures too. I'm sorry you have such sadness now but you know that she's with the Lord and that is the greatest consolation.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, Lisa. I'm so sorry for your loss.
    Your tribute is beautiful.
    Keep writing and sorting through the legacy you carry.
    Jesus gives you the sweet comfort of grieving.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lisa, please accept my condolences and this post is a lovely tribute to an amazing woman of God. "A ministry of availability"...how beautiful! I don't many people who do listen, truly listen with their hearts and the gift your Mom gave many is her tribute and legacy. God has a plan...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your mother with us. She was the "hands and feet" of God. We all benefit when someone loves like this!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a sweet, sweet testimony from a daughter to a mother! She had such a smile, didn't she? I know you will miss her. As you say though, the knowledge that this is a temporary separation, and we will be united with death behind us then -- what great joy that will be! I appreciate what you say about memories, about how irreplaceable people are, in our lives, with whom we share those memories, esp. the early ones. There are only a handful of people, and as they die, our minds feel like slowly emptying rooms as they leave. I don't like that. Next week I'm going up to see my parents. My daddy is very old and in very poor health. Every time I hear his voice on the phone, I wonder if it's the last time, and I quietly thank God for the chance to hear him again. Hugs to you.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for dropping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)