Mom on the Mind

  

It has been 17 years since my Mom passed away on a beautiful May day in 1993.  We are having a beautiful May day here in Israel.  The jacaranda tree is full of gorgeous lavender blooms.  

The Yellow Blossom tree, is really putting out the foliage after we pruned it within an inch of its life. Bougainvillea are hanging heavy not to mention the hibiscus of red, salmon and yellow. All of this triggers memories of the gardens my Mom created with a lot of help from Dad.  

She was amazing enough to write we children a letter as her life was coming to an end and left it with one of her niece caregivers to give to us when she passed.  She didn't pass away until some time later.  After a year or so later this niece who had since married and moved away was unpacking boxes and found the letter which Mom had written for us and sent it off to us.  When I received it, I was very grateful that it had been found and delivered.  I remember being overcome with the generosity of Mom's spirit.  She didn't recall the times when she felt left alone or not sufficiently uplifted by us.  Instead she gave appreciation for all the good that she had had.  As I read it, it was clear that she appreciated the love she had felt from family and friends and their patience with the toll that arthritis had taken from her life and theirs.  I do not have the letter with me here in Israel, but when I return home I hope I can find it in my own "boxes" of my life's journey and savor the words and example and have the wisdom to do the same for my own loved ones.  Here are a few pictures from her life which I am drawing from a random file on my computer.