My uncle died this morning.
Now, before you feel sorry, let me say that I never had the pleasure of meeting him.
I vaguely remember seeing his face on a picture shown to me a while back.
Mom always talked about him though. How he always protected her as a big brother, how she always went to go sleep over to his house as a little girl when he got married because she missed him being home, how he always bought her little things to spoil her...
The latest that we had heard from him was that he was in the hospital on the brink of death with collapsed lungs from a cough that persisted and got worse...
But death has no sting.
Mom told me the news this morning and she got teary eyed... as did I. I never met him but the reality of it all- that he's not on this earth anymore but in glory- just blazed my reality. I said to myself, "Man, he's there. He made it..." With an inkling to want to clap in congratulations and celebration.
Tonight mom was desperately trying to reach my uncle's wife, the lady that she had grown to view as a sister. She seemed frantic but a helpless frantic, with tears swelling up as she hung up, dialed the number, let the phone ring which no one picked up, dialing another number, no one picking up and so on. She finally got another number and dialed it. She was able to speak to my uncle's wife... to hear her voice and some music... they were having a wake at that very moment.
In the midst of her child-like tears she said, "I'm just calling you to say God bless you and to let you know that He is your strength right now. Thank you so much for what you did all these years for him. I know you spent your whole lives together from such a young age till now..." and she continued with a sweet life story. I wanted to stay with her to just be there as if my presence offered comfort... but at the same time, I wondered if I should leave. So with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I quietly left the room. She wanted to be alone. Soon enough, she closed the door to her room.
Out of all of this, what caught my attention was that my mother was encouraging someone else while the tears were streaming down her cheeks. Do you see what I'm trying to say?
I saw a glimpse of selflessness in a moment that could have been completely devoted to self.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity or reminiscing in past memories, she took that opportunity, that moment to call my aunt to see how she was doing. And even in the midst of my mother's tears, I am sure that my aunt was comforted to receive that phone call from so far away; to know that even if miles, and mountains, and valleys and rivers separate us as a family, we are closer than we think.
Today I thought of death, I though of heaven, I thought of sorrow, I thought of the joy that awaits, I thought about family, and saw strength in the midst of tears.
"My flesh and my heart may fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Psalm 73:26
This TOTALLY made me want to hug your mom!
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome how everybody deals with death differently! Maybe encouraging others while she is sad is slightly comforting-which I think is good. When my dad passed, my mom told me the story of how she heard a clear voice though she was alone in the room that said "Be still, and look." She stopped sobbing for a little bit and looked up and the room was golden and there were 3 people like figures, but she couldn't see distinct features. She knew it was a gift from God to see that. She believes they were angels, but they were just there to let her know it was all okay and that my daddy was going to Heaven, and then in an instant, they were gone, and right after that, my dad officially passed. It comforted her as well as me-even though I was 6; it comforted me 2 nights ago when she told me the story.
Knowing our loved ones are in Heaven is where I find comfort-that they are with God, like you said-you wanted to clap and celebrate. :)