Today has been very sweet and tender to me. I had the privilege of listening to my neighbor speak of his sweet wife- a dear friend of mine- who recently passed away. He told of a time in her life when she felt inspired to give a kidney to a neighbor in need. My friend said that she did it so the kidney recipient could see her children graduate and get married. What a selfless and Christ-like attitude!
And although not perfect, my friend always seemed to have this same selfless attitude in life. She was always caring for others and looking for ways to help.
Hearing my neighbor talk of his wife brought to mind this incredible woman... my mother!
She also was not perfect- but she also exemplified selflessness. Before I was born, she moved with my dad across the country away from her own mother and family to support my dad in his career and to help care for his aging great-aunt.
Before I was in school, many days were spent driving into the city with my mom while she served in our church, caring for and visiting many older ladies. I remember visiting care centers with her while I was so very young. Later, my mother recounted having the privilege of helping to dress some of these sweet ladies in the funeral homes as their own families lived too far away or had passed on before them.
As I entered 1st grade, our family moved to the suburbs along with my grandparents (my father's parents)- all in the same home. Within a few years, my grandmother while undergoing an operation had complications that could have sent her to a nursing home- except my mother volunteered to learn the steps necessary for her care and then spent many hours following through on that care, all so that my grandmother could be in her own home! I am not so certain I would have been so selfless...
As I entered high school, my family moved back across the country, and my mother continued to be selfless. You see, my grandmother moved with us, and we planned to have a basement apartment for her again. However, that was, due to unforeseen circumstances, not possible. My mother set aside the family room for my grandmother's use. It became "Grandma's living room". She shared her kitchen (including all day on Saturdays), including the refrigerator- always tried to help my grandmother feel at home. She even drove my grandmother to the temple nearly every week for more than a decade.
In her lifetime, my mother rarely had an entire house to herself- but I know she would choose to do it all again as that is the caring person she was in this life (and still is to this day I am sure!)
I could give so many additional examples of how my mother lived her life in a Christ-like way.
I will always be so blessed at the example of so many women, but most especially for the example of my mother!
