Today, August 16th, is my mother's earthly birthday, but she was born into eternal life on November 4, 2012. My mother was called by her middle name, Ileen, all her life. She cringed whenever anybody called her Dorothy, especially if they shortened it to Dottie. I always thought Dorothy was a nice name. It means "gift of God." I wonder if Jesus gave her a new name in heaven.
This is the butterfly her 3yr. old granddaughter Evelyn made for her. To me, it symbolizes that she can fly now. She has a new and beautiful life with God.
THINGS I LEARNED FROM MAMA
1. "It will only hurt
for a little while."
Mama was a nurse - all the
time. She didn't pity our pains. We learned not to tell her of our ailments
until we were ready to endure the cure. (sore throat, loose tooth, splinter) We
never stayed home from school unless we were very sick to our stomach or had a
fever. In those cases, her usual remedy was - "Take a warm bath and go
back to bed." She kept us very healthy, and if she took us to the doctor,
it was mostly for a second opinion and a prescription for a medicine. I learned
that there are many things in life that hurt - but only for a little while.
2. "You don't know what
you can do until you try."
Mama taught me to try new
things. I called it "dabbling." She could do so many things just
because she tried. She would look at something in the store and say, "I
can make that." Of course, she never made it exactly the same. She always
added her own touch to it. She also had her own vocabulary.
"jiggy-jiggy"
"ripper-snipper" and "doo-hicky"
- the one that changed meaning,
depending on what project we were working on.
I've learned to not be afraid of learning something new.
3. "If you don't work,
you don't eat."
Mama taught us to work. She assigned
us chores according to our abilities. She worked beside us in the garden, and we
didn't quit until it was clean of weeds. We helped her harvest and can the
vegetables in the fall. I woke one morning to see her still canning green
beans. I felt guilty for going to bed, but she said, "You needed your
sleep to go to school. I can nap while you're gone." She taught me the
satisfying feeling of finishing a job.
We didn't always work. Mama
liked to play. We played board games (Yatzee, Carom, Boggle, and many more) She
took us swimming and sledding. We visited the library every week. She knew how
to reward our hard work with fun.
4. "Oh, I know it will
be a good thing!"
Mama was an optimist to the
core. No matter her situation, she would think it was a good thing. I tend to
be a bit more skeptical, but Mama was never skeptical. She would persevere
through all kinds of things when I would want to give up. If someone turned
against her, it really hurt her feelings, but many times, even then, she would
try to find an excusable reason for their actions. She always thought the best
of others. I want to be more optimistic. I want to see the good in whatever
situation God brings in my life.
5. "There's always
enough for one more person."
Mama had a big heart. We
never had much money, but we always had enough to share with others. She even tithed
her garden produce. One row was set aside as "God's row." No matter where it was in the garden, that
row grew the best. We never ate from that row ourselves but gave the food to a
pastor or an elderly person.
We always had people staying
with us. From the time I was a little girl, we had foster children living with
us or others that needed a home. Many of you here were "adopted" into
our family. We always had people over for Thanksgiving or Christmas - people
that didn't have their own family. Mama remembered everyone's birthdays and
anniversaries with cards. (I'll have to admit that I haven't learned to do that
yet.) She had Bible studies, children's clubs, and youth activities in our
living room. Hardly a week went by without someone else sharing our home.
I once found a poem by Sam
Walter Foss that says "Let me live in the house by the side of the road
and be a friend to man." That was Mama.
I want to end with something from
Anna
" I just read the story Miss Rumphius to Carter, the one about
the lupine lady. I thought of Grandma - how it was important to her
to make outside her house look beautiful, and how she thought the whole world
should be covered in flowers.
I especially thought of her when in the story
the old lady's back hurt so much that she couldn't plant anymore flowers like
she wanted to.
I liked the last part
of the story - not because it is my life long goal or anything, but I think it
symbolizes a lot of what Grandma was like.
The little girl says -
"When I grow up
... I too will go to faraway places and come home to live by the
sea."
"That is all very
well, little Alice,"
says my aunt, "but there is a third thing you must do."
"What is
that?" I ask.
"You must do
something to make the world more beautiful."
That was Grandma. She
made the world more beautiful wherever she went.
