The Circle of Life

Friday, January 16, 2015 started out just like every other Friday morning.   It actually began the day before when I realized that three years before on the same date I would be spending the last day on earth with my Mother.  As my day went by, I would glance at the clock and realize that this was the time that her siblings came to say their good-byes to their sister.   I thought of the time when I ran out to get her a iced coffee from Aroma Joe's and purchased it with a gift card that I still have in my pocketbook.   I thought about her last sip of that drink and how much she enjoyed tasting it.  Then, as I went to bed I knew that three years ago, we had our last few hours with her.   I didn't sleep three years ago at that time and early on Friday morning, I was wide awake just thinking of her last minutes with us.   A friend on Facebook wrote about how she remembers the anniversary of when her Mother died and someone told her not to think about that; only think about the good memories.   She responded with, "Why would I ever want to forget?  Every moment of her life was important to me and helped me to become who I am today."  Her words really touched me.

I did finally get to sleep and woke up to my husband putting coffee on and starting breakfast.   As he left for work, we hugged and I thanked God for having another morning with him.   Another thought of my Mother touched my heart as I thought of how much she loved my husband and was so happy for the two of us.   I got ready for work and headed out.  I stopped for coffee and thought of how much she enjoyed her coffee in the morning.   I took a sip and smiled as the words slipped out of my mouth with, "Ahhhhh", just like she did when she took her first sip in the morning.

My son, Michael sent me a text in the morning asking me if we would mind watching Rosslyn, our granddaughter for a few hours that night.   Mind; are you kidding?   We love having her and then I smiled again thinking of how much my Mother loved watching her grandchildren.   John came home and we made hot dogs together.   As we sat down together to have dinner, we held hands and said a prayer.   I closed my eyes and opened them watching Rosslyn squeeze her eyes tight to say a prayer.    All I could do was smile and think of how my Mother would love to see the expressions on Rosslyn's face at times like this.   After dinner, we all went into the livingroom and played together.    Whether it was feeding her baby, pretending to go shopping, or dancing the chicken dance, we laughed all night with her.   It was such a perfect way to spend the evening. Just after 9:00 pm, the phone rang.   It was my sister-in-law sharing that she had just become a grandmother to a beautiful baby boy about a half hour earlier.   I had tears in my eyes as I congratulated her, told her we love her, and thanked God for another priceless gift of a baby boy to our family.  

As I got ready for bed last night, I couldn't help but think of the day and all it brought.    January 16th will always be a day that I remember as the day that my family said good-bye to my Mother.   Even though that day three years ago brought so much heartache, today it brought so much joy. Ironically, it made me think of the song, "The Circle of Life" which was one of my Mother's favorite songs from The Lion King that we were able to see together in New York City.   It's the Circle of Life and it moves us all through despair and hope, through faith and love.