Parents

I am having a hard time writing this one.  I have now tried to write it six [excuse me, seven] times.  I'm ready to scrap it entirely, but I think it's a topic worth the effort.

Parents, you can't live without 'em [literally, 'cause, like, without them you wouldn't be born].  And then you must.

I wore a polka dot dress to my father-in-law's funeral.  My nephew did a magic trick.  People laughed and clapped.  Nobody cried.  "Gar"--the name given to William Woerner years ago by a grandchild struggling to say "Grandpa"--was 93 years of age.  He loved stories and puzzles, riddles and jokes.  He would've been pleased with polka dots and magic tricks.

Thank you for long, happy lives worth celebrating.

How different was my mother's passing over twenty years ago.  She was only 69.  Drew and I had just been married two years, and our first baby was not yet a year old.  I loved Mom so much, and I had still much to learn.  She was ready to go before I was ready to part from her.  There was a long future ahead and so many things I  wanted to share with her.  I was distraught.  [Just a touch to that long-faded bruise and I can feel the raw injury all over again.]

Thank you for exquisite memories of people we love, memories pleasant or painful.

And while I am on the topic of parents, I want to tell you about my friend, Patty, and how she is my hero.  Patty is a woman my age, with one daughter in college and another who will be graduating from high school next June.  She and I were born the same year, got married the same year, have daughters the same age, and share a similar sense of humor.  Her mamma raised her right.  She knows how to love.

Thank you for girlfriends.

So when Patty's mother, still healthy and strong in body, began to lose her short-term memory, forgot she'd taken her medication and so took it again, forgot she put a pot of something on the stove to cook, Patty brought her mom home to stay.  It's a simple thing; I know many people do it.  How I envy her.

Thank you for time to give back to those who have given to us.

Patty's mom asks the same questions, not because she forgot the answer but because she forgot she asked.  Patty smiles and answers again.  Love is greater than frustration; Patty proves this again and again.  Patty is mom and daughter, both, excelling at both.

Thank you for role models of love.

Parents:  We have them, we are them.  We learn from them what to do [perhaps what not to do], and we try to teach our children.  That whole "circle of life" we hear [or sing] about is perpetuated.  What, then, do I say to my friends who've lost a child?  There are not words enough to console nor time enough to heal.  There is only God enough to carry you even as you rail against Him.

Thank you for unfaltering love that carries us into a future we never imagined.

Well, I think I said what I wanted to say about parents.  It only took seven attempts to complete.  [You'd think it would've turned out better or longer for all the trouble it gave me.]  There are some scraps and remnants lying around in the mess left behind.  There are still some thank yous that need saying.

[Drew flew home for a final visit with his father.]
Thank you for safe, fast air travel that brings us to our loved ones.

[Gar had a long life and a brief end.]
Thank you for caring medical personnel.  Thank you for Living Wills and peaceful ends.

[I'm thankful that Drew spent some time with his dad alone, watching an old re-run of the "Lawrence Welk Show," glad that Dad brightened and sang along to the old familiar songs.]
Thank you for favorite songs.

[I'm thankful that my brother-in-law, Keith, and his wonderful wife, Tamara, were there.  So much falls to the family members who make their home close to home.  There is nothing convenient about living or dying, and Keith and Tamara gave so much time and love, work and worry.]
Thank you for family back home.

Thank you, Keith and Tamara, for the care and aid you've given Gar and Jean.  Thank you, Gar, for your generosity of spirit.  Thank you, Patty, for your friendship.  Thank you, Mom, for whatever part of me that is good.  Thank you, God, for Keith, Tamara, Gar, Jean, Patty, and my Mom.