After my first week at home since my birth mother died I have felt the prayers of the saints around me.
I’ve had a few good weeks of functioning as a somewhat normal mom, wife and human being.
The last couple of days have found me really missing my mom again. Maybe it was having my family here for Thanksgiving that has brought her to the forefront of my mind again or maybe it’s just another season of grief.
In my post (Part Eight) I think I told you about me asking her to send me a telegram from heaven. But I think I’ve forgotten to tell you about the beautiful Magnolia tree that arrived the same day the flower arrangement arrived from my husband’s business associates in Utah.
My mom’s favorite flower was a magnolia blossom. People up north often referred to her as Ms. Magnolia because she was from the south…born and raised in Lexington, NC.
I was stunned when the plant arrived. It was what it took that Saturday to cause me to totally break down. Since the breakdown I’ve smiled when I think about the plant now.
Please believe me when I say this because it is with nothing but love that I do….my mom was a whipper-snapper. She was a pain in the butt. She was stubborn. She was frustrating. She was sarcastic. But she loved with the love of Jesus. I am so much like her in personality. I am all of those things plus a “know it all”. She was too. It was nothing for us to be together and her tell me to shut up or ask, “Who birthed you?”. It was all said in humor and laced with love but she could really be a pain. She was stubborn that way. And I think now of how that relates to that Magnolia tree. They are beautiful, hardy plants that are also messy and a pain in the butt. They drop their leaves and their dead blooms which sit around like large annoying seeds just waiting for you to step on one and break your ankle. The leaves pop when you throw them into a fire. It’s like a mini fireworks sound display. And there I find my mom. Sweet, beautiful, nasty, a pain, full of fireworks and laughing as she looks down at me knowing God will show me and remind me of her over and over again when I plant that annoying but lovely tree.
So as for that telegram. I got it. And I’m still reading it.
Awesome! I knew something like that would happen. That’s the way real love is.