Just like your mother

I had not been dating Rich Suhey very long when he met my mother.

He told me that if I was going to grow old like her - he looked forward to loving me for a long time.

Unfortunately, he passed away when she was only 76 (a year older than I am now) but if he were still around, my guess is that he'd say he was glad he stuck with me (she is now 99 years old).

I do look like her but more than that this week I've been reminded how much I am like her  and I've seen that my daughters are like me

I had a vehicular accident on Thursday.  I needed stitches in my head and had the joy of spending the night at Memorial Hospital because of a little brain bleed.

The first thing I did was like my mother:

As I waited for the ambulance, with some blood making its way down my neck, I realized that someone I knew had arrived on the scene  It was Alexis, the winner of the Key Club Scholarship at Christ Church Academy  A few days ago I had given the award to Alexis but did not have a certificate with me  That certificate was on the front seat of my car ready to be mailed.

I saved a stamp.

I was also happy to be able to introduce Alexis to my friend Joe who had come to the scene when I called him with the news of my accident.  ("This is Alexis", I said - "I've been telling you about her")

Later that day I recounted this story to my daughters.

They laughed as they reminded me of the time that we had a structural fire on our family's property in the middle of the night.  My mother went into the house and made lemonade for the firefighters.

We both seem to focus elsewhere in what seems to be a crisis.

You are just like grandma, they suggested.

And then I told them something else. Earlier that day a nurse had asked if my head hurt.

My response:

"I am aware that I have a head".

I gasped,

Those words have come out of my mother's mouth so many times.  And I have absolutely hated it.  

Which is what I told the nurse.

"We always become our mothers", she had said.

So I sadly told my daughters - you are likely to become just like me - as I have become just like your grandma.

These are simple remembrances.  In reality, my mother has always had a strong Christian spirit of love and caring for others  Both of my girls have that as well as does their younger brother.  

During my recuperation - Renee wanted to find a way for me to have chicken and rice (something my mother always did for me when I was puny); Becca took me for a quiet visit with her children and in the emergency room, Tray was very firm, but kind encouraging me that I really did need to go to the hospital and spend the night.  It was as if my mother was speaking through him (better safe than sorry, she would have said).

This has been an experience!  My car is ugly and I'm probably faced with decisions as to what happens next.  I've been forced to be still - yeah right.  And I really don't like my independent spirit being quieted.

However,  It has been a time for me to put what my mother taught me through the years into practice.

That's the importance of Romans 8:28 - God has a plan and He's working it all together for my good  (and I think the good of those closest to me at this time in my life).  My responsibility in this is to accept the love and care (Joe brought me chicken and rice soup; Debbie brought me flowers, and many persons have called and texted) that I am offered and to know that all will be well.

I recently have taken on a new mantra "Life is Good and God is better".  There surely is a reason for it all.

            May your life have enough sunshine 

           to make you appreciate the shadows

PS Becca and Renee also asked if I suggested to the woman who helped me at the accident - her name was Candy - and I meet for coffee