I saw my mother yesterday. That wouldn’t be so unusual, except that she’s gone. She passed away ten years ago.
I was walking into the lab to get my blood drawn. And before passing through the sliding glass doors, I looked up…
Staring back at me in the reflection, was my mother. Our features are similar…dark hair – even into our late 60s, and similar body types as we both have a genetic kidney condition where our kidneys have enlarged to be about the size of footballs.
Most of my life she wore her hair long and put up in a French twist. Mine is longer, and today I had twisted it up with a big clip in the back and a bit of it stood up, much like her French twist used to.
When she passed away I inherited a few of her clothes. Yesterday I happened to put on one of her shirts – a cool green plaid with ¾ sleeves that exposed my arms for an easy roll up blood draw. I had slipped on a matching pair of green leggings, which I don’t wear often because green isn’t really my color… And there she was.
One of my favorite humor authors is Liz Curtis Higgs. She wrote a book I got when I turned 40 – Forty Reasons Life is More Fun After The Big 4-0 One of the reasons is that your mother comes to visit every day – in the mirror!
I didn’t see that happening then, but this kind of took my breath away. I used to hate being told I looked like my mother. Now, it seemed a kindness.
I used to be the age where a lot of my friends’ parents were passing away. Then it was older cousins. Now it’s our husbands and wives.
I’m asking God to help me remember the good times, the memories of all I’ve learned from those who have gone before me. And to let me use those to make positive memories and pass on what I’ve learned to my children and grandchildren.
What good time memories do you have that you can duplicate with your friends, your kids or grandkids?
What have you learned that had a positive impact on your life that you can intentionally pass on to the next generation?
Take some time to make a list of some of those things that made wonderful memories for you – – and pass them on!
Deuteronomy 32:7
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.
Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing,