It was an early morning in West Point, MS on June 24, 1952
when we met. I met her first and him a
little later. In those days expectant
fathers had to wait in a separate room.
A nurse came in and told him he had a son and both mother and child were
well. It was 68 years ago so I don’t
really remember my first impression of Jack and Dot Drees but I will always
remember the lasting impression they had, and still have on my life. Both have been physically absent from this
world for many years now. He has been
gone for 10 years and she left us far too early 23 years ago. She was 68.
Today is my 68th birthday.
This is all significant to me for several reasons. First it’s my continual reminder that life is
precious, fragile, fleeting and uncertain. Mom was in great health. To my knowledge she was only a hospital
patient twice in her life; first on that June morning in 1952 when we met 68
years ago and then two years later when she and my sister met for the first
time. On June 14, 1997 she and dad were
winding down a fun Saturday with family and friends. It was the day before Father’s Day. Before going to bed she came to dad as he was
in his recliner flipping channels on the TV remote control. Men often finish the day in the recliner
flipping through the channels before turning the TV off and going to bed. Men don’t watch one channel as much as they want
to know what else is on. Anyway, mom
came to him and said, “I am going to give
your Father’s Day card and gift a little early”. As he was looking at the card she said, “I have a sharp pain in my head”. She slumped in her recliner and those
were her last words. A massive cerebral
aneurysm changed everything for our family that night.
I think about that night often. I especially thought about it when I was told
I had three aneurysms just before my 49th birthday. Thanks to some divine intervention, two
lifesaving major surgeries from a great surgeon and his team I am here for
birthday number 68. If interested a more
detailed story of that event is in the blog archives for 2011 entitled ‘Ten
Years Later’. Back to today; now that I
am the same age as mom was when she died and having experienced survival from
aneurysms I am thoughtful and thankful for the things I learned from her life
and death.
From her death, as mentioned previously, I learned that life
is precious, fragile, fleeting and uncertain.
None of us know what the next moment will bring or how long we will
live. Therefore I am continually
encouraged to follow the advice from John 10:10 to ‘live abundantly’ and make
the most of each moment. Life is too
short to hold on to anger, hurt feelings, fear, worry, anxiety and destructive
thoughts or behavior. Let go of all that
is negative or destructive and celebrate each moment. Cherish each moment with family and friends
while you can. I miss mother because she
was such fun to be with but I’m glad for each moment we had and happy that when
we parted we were on great terms.
From her life, I learned the importance of being a
peacemaker. Mom was the peacemaker of
our family. I have cherished memories of
growing up in a harmonious family. I
have often said that I am blessed with memories of growing up in the happiest
family I knew. I have no memories of mom
and dad arguing. I am certain that
happened but I don’t remember any major disagreements in front of my sister and
me. While I have memories of joking,
laugher and having fun growing up there were the typical minor disagreements
either between brother and sister or parents with teenage children. So there was, as in every family and group in
society, a need for a peacemaker. In our
family that was mom.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will
be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9). The dictionary defines a peacemaker as, “a person who helps others solve a conflict
and reach a peaceful solution”. One
doesn’t have to look very far today to see the need for more peacemakers. Jesus describes this is the character trait
of “a
child of God”. True children of
God pursue harmony and peace as they seek to lead others to the same type of
reconciled life.
These two things I learned from mother’s life and death
actually go hand in hand. When we
remember that life is precious, fragile, fleeting and uncertain we will try to
make the most of each day and seek to be at peace with God and our fellowman. We cannot truly live abundantly if we are
not in harmony with God and our fellowman.
1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our misdeeds to God, He will
forgive and cleanse us from all wrongdoing.
It is simple really, if you have wronged God, confess it to Him and
receive his grace. If you have wronged
someone, confess your mistake(s) and seek a peaceful reconciliation ASAP. If someone had wronged you, forgive them
ASAP. It’s not rocket science!
Mother didn’t get to attend college. She rarely traveled more than a few hundred
miles from home and never visited another country. She never wrote a book, a song or was a
political leader. However, she was known
to bring laughter, joy, and peace wherever she went. When she died over 500 people came to express
what she meant to them. She is still
remembered with a smile by all that knew her.
So, as I enter my 68th year, which was her last year, I plan
to make the most of each day living abundantly in peace, joy and harmony. Why not join with me?
