FRIDAY JULY 29 2016  A PICTURE INTO THE PAST

I began another journey yesterday.  I don’t think I really understood where it was going to take me emotionally.  My mother died in 2010.  After her death all her earthly belongings were dispersed.  Only to her five living daughters would the items be considered treasures.  But to us, they were, and still are.  My youngest sister asked for all the family photos.  She asked for them before any one else did so she became heir to stacks and stacks of fading photos in non-archival albums.  I volunteered to make a heritage album for her so they could be rescued from decaying.  The executor of the estate, my oldest sister, paid for all the supplies out of my mother’s estate.  We all knew that saving those precious old photos would be a benefit to the heritage of our mother.

When I brought them home I worked for several weeks on removing the old snapshots from their prison of neglect, protected them in boxes, and only now am I embarking on finishing what I started.  The supplies were purchased six years ago and I’m all set to go.  To some that might simply entail inserting the photos into new albums.  However, that is not my idea of a heritage album.  So…a new journey begins.  And just where do I get the time? 

My goal is to be more diligent in getting up earlier, going to bed earlier, and working on the books for several hours each morning. And the journey has begun.  This morning I had a huge pot of homemade soup almost completely cooked by 9:00 a.m.  Then I began the albums.  At 1:30 p.m. I closed shop (wishing I didn’t have to), ate, went to the gym, came home and cooked dinner, ate AGAIN, and now I have a few moments for blogging. 

I am going to do something different with this story.  I want to take you with me into A PICTURE OF MY PAST.  In no way will the story be complete as we all have skeletons in our closet of which I do not feel is my prerogative to share.  However, I want to introduce you to the remarkable woman who was my mother, and who will live in my heart until I see her once again in heaven.  I will then introduce you to her siblings so that you can see what a remarkable family they were.  They lived in a very difficult time, living dirt poor, while being cruelly treated by their father.

Mama was the oldest of 13 children born to her parents.  She had a tyrannical father, and a mother who was the polar opposite of the man she married.  My grandfather finally died after over 60 years of marriage.  After his death my grandmother was quoted as saying that she believed God took him first so she would have some years of her life left to enjoy.  I know I am not quoting her verbatim, but if you knew my grandma, you would know how grateful she was for the gift of him dying first.  I never heard my grandmother ever once talk about another person in a negative way.  She had 14 more years on this earth after he died, the last few being lovingly tended by her daughters as she declined with dementia.

On different days I will share a short biography of her and her siblings which I wrote for a family reunion 5 years ago.  I will begin with the oldest and finish with the youngest.  I hope you enjoy them.

Here goes:

“Without mincing words I must say my mother was a remarkable person.  She was a strong woman with fortitude.   Her life was not easy.  Though she never had much in the way of personal wealth she had the uncanny ability of creating something out of very little.  She sewed quilts for warmth and sewed her children’s clothing as well as crocheting and tatting.  She was a “do-er”.  And if you weren’t “doing” she would help you become a do-er. 

 Mama was a prayer warrior.  Night after night she could be heard crying her heart out to God for the salvation of her children.  She held her family together through many trials and stepped up to bat when it was time.  Even though she seemed to work constantly there was one thing which she did remarkably well.  She had the discipline of taking an afternoon nap, affectionately termed later in life by her sisters and nieces as “I’m going to take an Aunt Sybil” which meant they were going to take a nap.

Mama lost a son to death shortly after he was born and went on to rear one son and five daughters.

Wherever mama lived, if there was a plot of dirt, she would grow food and flowers.  Her gardens were her passion, and even greater than her gardens, was her passion for the Lord.  She knew God loved her unconditionally and she strove to live a righteous life.  Life was very seldom easy for her but she had a love of life and knowledge that few really realized.  During her later years she read everything she could about World War II.  Her explanation was, that though she had lived through those years she never once had an understanding or news coverage about what was going on.  She was determined to know what happened in that far away war before she died.

 I also remember mama reading her Bible every day.  She read through the Bible  each year.  In her journals that she left behind she never forgot to write the notation “Read Bible today” at the end of her page.  She moved back to Arkansas to help care for her mama and papa in their retiring years.  When her father died she moved in with her mother and cared for her until her mother went to be with the Lord.  Mother and daughter were only 18 years apart so they aged together.

Mama went to be with her Lord in 2010.  She will always be remembered for her gardens.  Wherever she lived she made the world a little more beautiful with her gorgeous roses and bountiful flowers.  She was a true woman of integrity.”

 Here is the poem I wrote for the family reunion:

 

My Mama

January 2010

 

My precious dear mama.

 

A young person

Never allowed to be a child.

A student

Never allowed to pursue her dreams.

A wife

Doing without and sometimes not loved as she deserved.

A mother

Broken for her children.

A woman

Who survived by her fortitude and resourcefulness.

A grandmother

Who didn’t know how to say I love you.

 

But…she survived.

 

She grew to an adult

Without first being a child.

Life experience

Was her education.

She outlived her husband

And became free.

She gave her children to the Lord

And buried two sons.

She survived

By doing for others.

And she even learned to say

“I love you”.

 

Deep inside her…

 

She had dreams and hopes

And she put them in the Lord.

Deep inside her she saw beauty

And planted a garden.

Deep inside her she loved others

And took care of their needs.

Deep inside her she had gentleness

That blossomed as she aged.

And deep inside her

Her spirit was beautiful

For God had made her that way.

And when she left this world,

The world was a little less beautiful.

 

Now…

Her deepest yearning,

Her deepest needs,

Her deepest prayers

Have been met.

 

She has met her Creator.

 

The Great Physician

Counselor

Prince of Peace

 

And she will reign in His presence for ever.

 

She stored up her treasures in heaven.

 

She is now  a child…

A child of God.

Her dreams are fulfilled.

She is loved beyond measure.

She lacks for nothing

And is loved as the bride of Christ.

Her chains have been broken

And her crown is laden with stars

For her tireless giving

And ministrations.

 

She is at peace

All hope fulfilled.

 

I’ll see you again someday mama

 

Love,

Your daughter

 

Here is the poem I wrote today.

 

LORD, YOU ARE A GOOD, GOOD FATHER

By Kathleen Martens

July 29, 2016

 

Thank You Father that to my mother You were and are a GOOD, GOOD FATHER.

Never were You too busy that You could not be bothered.

Thank You God that You chose her to be mine,

Because as a mother, she was mighty fine.

 

Thank You Lord that my mother taught me well,

Your Holy Scriptures were her words to tell.

And because of the truth, that to me she imparted,

I have the gift of compassion, and being kindhearted.

 

I knew that she loved me but could not utter in words

“I love you”, but through her actions, those words I heard.

Without her I may not be who I am,

But because of her, I am Your precious lamb.

 

GOOD NIGHT AND GOD BLESS YOU.