"The Last Blessing"

A coupe of weeks ago I learned that the mother of a friend of mine had pancreatic cancer. It came as a complete shock to the family and left them stunned. The family was really in chaos because my friend's nephew was getting married, plus her son and his wife had just had a new baby. As you can tell, it was the best of times and the worst of times.

My friend, whose name is Dawne, told me her mother went down fast and was soon hospitalized. She was in and out of pain and had to be heavily medicated, but on the day of her grandson's wedding she said she wanted to go. Dawne was stunned but agreed to help her mother get dressed and get to the wedding.

All during the wedding her mother was composed and serene while all those around her were having a hard time keeping it together. Dawne's mother made it through the entire wedding and through part of the reception. Then she went back to the hospital. Less than a week later she was dead.

Dawne told me she thought this ability of her mother to get through the wedding was just a last blessing in her life. It was a blessing for this lady and also for her entire family. It was a gift from God and a moment of calm amid the storm of illness.

Dawne's story about her mother took me back to the times when my father was failing. I tried to get to South Carolina as often as I could but sometimes weeks would pass in between visits.

One weekend in June of 2000 I told my wife I was going to South Carolina to see my father, Terry, my wife, was having some back problems and asked that I delay going for a week or so. Something however told me not to wait, so I told her I was gong to go on that weekend even if she couldn't go.

Well my wife being supportive in every way toughed it up and made the trip with me. We went to Clinton on Saturday morning and spent the day with my father and stepmother. It was a wonderful day and Daddy was more clear headed than he had been in a while. We laughed about old stories and talked about all the family in depth. We even reminisced about my mother. It was fantastic.

We were in South Carolina on Saturday and my father died on Monday. We had gotten to see him at just the right time. We too had gotten that last blessing.

Life is funny. We don't always know why things happen the way they do. Sometimes it is something horrible and we can't understand why it occurred. But sometimes it is a blessing and we can't figure out how or why it happened either. It just did.

I take my blessings where I find them and I don't question the why of them, I just accept that they are there.

 

 

 

 

 

©2005 Jackie K. Cooper

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