10 Years Ago

One of my favorite pictures of my mom and I celebrating her birthday. 

10 years ago I was enjoying a day at the fair with my family when I got a call that my mom was being taken to the hospital with some severe symptoms, I sat in a secluded space and had a little meltdown and then pulled myself together when they said she would be fine, no need to rush up to see her, they were going to put her in a room and get her situated and we should really wait until the next day to come see her. 

So, we asked them to please tell her we loved her and we would be up first thing in the morning to see her. We finished our day and went home exhausted to fall into bed. The phone rang around one in the morning with the news that my mom had passed away at 12:01 am. No! That can't be, they said she would be fine and we had plenty of time to get up there to see her. 

That was the bad news. The good news, I know where my mom is today because she put her trust in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. My mom was a pro at showing unconditional love, I knew how much she loved me, and she knew how much I loved her. There was really nothing left unsaid between us. I had told her not only how much I loved her, but also that I was in awe of her bravery as a young woman who came across the country to start life over while alone and pregnant with me. I had told her I forgave her for her mistakes and asked her to forgive herself. 

The point of this post is not just to talk about how sad I am and how much I miss my mom, it's to remind us all to not take each other for granted. My mom was only 63 years old! Of course we thought we had more time! But we didn't. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us, so please don't take your loved ones for granted because you never know when you will be saying goodbye to someone for the last time. Tell those you love that you love them, often! And most of all, make time for those you really care about!

Be Blessed,
Colleen