Conversations...

I've been without a car for the past two weeks, though why it matters I really can't say, I rarely leave the house anymore. I've been sitting here reflecting on conversations I've had on the telephone, and how thankful I am for that simple convenience. Today, I was able to talk to one of my best friends, my kindred spirit, Carol. She recently lost her mother. I haven't been able to get to a shop and find an appropriate card. The sympathy cards in my supply just didn't express what was in my heart, which was overflowing with sadness and love for her and her family. I lost my mom over 16 years ago, and I miss her just as much today as I did that first week. I just shed fewer tears now, though occasionally the tears still come.

Beautiful angel image, courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

We talked about moms, and loss, and the things you want to do as well as need to do, along with some general chitchat. I mentally reached for just the right comforting words to say, but they didn't come. Mind blank. Frozen. Hopefully the love came through.

Some I also talked to this week: my other best friend, DeAnn; my Uncle Burt; my dear friend Marjie, who was also my grandma's best friend; Aunt Beth, technically my husband's aunt, but totally adopted by me; my cousin, Elverta; my husband, phoning from the eclipse party in the mountains that I had to miss. There may have been others I'm not remembering right now, but it was a busy week on the phone.

Conversation is my favorite way of connecting with people. I do love social media like Facebook, I enjoy blogging and visiting the blogs of friends, email is also good, but better than all of these is conversation. Ideally, it would be done face to face, over a cup of coffee and perhaps a decadent dessert, but the telephone is the next best thing. It takes away from the isolation I've allowed my health to place me in. If you do nothing else this week, make time for your loved ones and your friends in whatever way you can, message, phone call, or visit. We benefit from interaction with others. It reminds us we are all in this world together. Let's make it a beautiful place to be.

© 25Aug2017 ajjahner

Mother...

A friend sent this to me this past week.  It is beautiful.  Whether you are  a mother or a daughter... whether you are blessed to still have your mother around, or if she has passed on, I think it will touch you.

MOTHER

Author Unknown

The young mother set her foot on the path of life. 

"Is this the long way?" she asked. 

And the guide said: 
"Yes, and the way is hard
And you will be old before you reach the end of it.. 

But the end will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy,
and she would not believe that anything 
could be better than these years

So she played with her children, 
and gathered flowers for them along the way, 
and bathed them in the clear streams; 
and the sun shone on them, 
and the young Mother cried,
"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."



Then the night came, and the storm, 
and the path was dark, 
and the children shook with fear and cold,
and the mother drew them close
and covered them with her mantle,
and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid,
for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead,
and the children climbed and grew weary,
and the mother was weary.  

But at all times she said to the children,
"A little patience and we are there."

So the children climbed, 
and when they reached the top they said,  
"Mother, we would not have done it without you." 
And the mother, when she lay down at night 
looked up at the stars and said, 
"This is a better day than the last, for my children 
have learned fortitude in the face of hardness.
 Yesterday I gave them courage.
Today, I've given them strength."



And the next day came strange clouds 
which darkened the earth, 
clouds of war and hate and evil,
and the children groped and stumbled, 
and the mother said:  

"Look up. Lift your eyes to the light."
  And the children looked
and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, 
and it guided them beyond the
darkness. And that night the Mother said,
"This is the best day of all, for
I have shown my children God."



And the days went on,
and the weeks and the months and
the years, and the mother grew old;
And she was little and bent.
But her children were tall and strong,
and walked with courage. 

And when the way was rough, 
they lifted her,
for she was as light as a feather;
and at last they came to a hill,
and beyond they could see a shining road
and golden gates flung wide.
And mother said,  
"I have reached the end of my journey.
And now I know 
the end is better than the beginning, 
for my children can walk alone, 
and their children after them."

And the children said, 
"You will always walk with us, Mother, 
even when you have gone through the gates."

And they stood and watched her 
as she went on alone,
and the gates closed after her. 
And they said:
"We cannot see her but she is with us still.
A Mother like ours is more than a memory.
She is a living presence."

Your Mother is always with you....
She's the whisper of the leaves 
as you walk down the street;
she's the smell of bleach 
 in your freshly laundered socks;
she's the cool hand on your brow 
when you're not well. 

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.
And she's crystallized in every tear drop.
She's the place you came from, 
your first home; and she's the map you follow 
with every step you take.
She's your first love and your first heartbreak,
and nothing on earth can separate you.
Not time, not space... not even death.

My favorite part is the last.  I feel my mom near in times of laughter and tears.  It's all part of the gifts that she instilled in me.  She lived life fully, in good times and in bad.  She faced it with courage, and with her unique sense of humor.  I was blessed to be her daughter.  I hope each of you have been blessed in life with a loving mother.

Images provided by Dawn of The Feathered Nest.  She is such a generous lady!  Please take some time to visit her beautiful blog.  If you are new here, you just click on the highlighted name of her blog and it will take you there.


Have a blessed day!
Nita Jo