Too much time has passed since my last blog. Life has been too busy. I have been playing too little, writing too little, and its time to stop getting sucked into all the "stuff" and practice what i preach about playing and praying and enjoying some holy leisure and taking time to connect with people you love. That would include those of you who are reading this blog, having waited patiently for me to get back.
My mother turned 97 years old two days ago! She is thirty years older than I am, so now you know my age, in case you didn't. I was her firstborn, and my birth story is a huge adventure in itself. But this is about Mom, and her adventurous,unusual life as a nurse married to a doctor who spent many years living abroad in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, helping people who had very little access to medical care. She also mothered two sons and two daughters, and is grandmother to 12 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren at last count. She was and is a grand mother, loved, admired, and respected by her family and many others.
Her serenity, beauty, humor, enormous strength, love for God, dedication to the welfare of others, and healing gifts are only some of what she has blessed us with as her family. We are very grateful indeed that at her age she is still healthy, able to interact well with friends and family, and involved in living life with real verve and appreciation.
The beautiful Lake michigan sunsets pictured above are symbolic, to me, of the sunset of her life--the kind of sunset I hope to enjoy too as I age. The sunset of Mom's life radiates with the glory of God and the beauty of a life well lived, a source of joy and blessing to countless others here and in other countries.
I couldn't end this blog without expressing my appreciation to the artist who drew her portrait on Mom's 97th birthday....Dana Ziebart. She captured my Mom's sweetness, dignity, and spiritual strength beautifully. How blessed we are to have such artists in our midst.
