Dearest Mother-in-Law

 

Last month was the anniversary of my mother-in-law’s loss with her battle to breast cancer twenty years ago. She was one of the kindest and sweetest people I have ever known, and I’m grateful that I was privileged to have her as part of my life.  I dedicate this poem to her.

 

My dearest Mother-in-Law,

 I’ll always remember the day that we met,

When you welcomed me at the very outset.

Your loving ways and kind heart always came through

In each word and each action that you would do.

Because of these things you were easy to love.

You were a mother-in-law that I was proud of.

All the family adored you; you were a treasure,

And being with you was indeed such a pleasure.

We were all so happy until we heard one fateful day,

“I have breast cancer,” were the only words you could say.

Then you gathered your composure, looked at us and said,

“Now let’s not be sad – why not be hopeful instead?”

You faced each day bravely with a smile on your face,

And you endured every procedure with dignity and grace.

You never said a word on the magnitude of your pain,

Although I’m sure it was difficult not to complain.

Then we received news that the cancer had spread,

And we were all filled with a feeling of dread.

Why was this happening to someone so good?

“It is God’s will,” you said – yes – you understood.

“Let’s not waste the days full of sadness and despair,

Let’s fill them with memories and good times we can share.”

Those were your wishes and so we complied.

We played games and talked, sitting at your bedside.

We watched as you weakened with each passing day,

And we knew all we could do at that point was pray.

We dreaded the moment when you’d have to leave.

We dreaded the moment when we’d have to grieve.

At last the day arrived when God called you home to rest,

Saddened to see you leave, we knew it was for the best.

Your struggle was finally over; you’d have pain no more.

But best of all, you’d be with God, Whom you’d come to adore.

When you breathed your last, together we all cried,

For the beautiful woman who had just died.

Suddenly we realized it was another special day:

It was Mother’s Day when God called you home to stay.

I thank God for bringing you into my life;

For allowing me to be my husband’s wife.

And in the not too-far distant future away,

I know that I will see you again one day.

Your loving Daughter-in-Law,

Cindy

A New Day

Wow! I have been away far too long. I just checked and the last the time I was here was in October of 2012. How I have neglected this blog. I am very saddened by this realization. I could give you a long explanation for my absence, but would it really matter in the end? Probably not. All that really matters is that I have returned.

I will also say that I am going to try to better at this business of blogging. But I’m not going to make any promises. I’m not going to promise that I will write every single day because that would be probably be an outright lie, and it would be silly to even entertain the idea that I could blog every single day because I know that I simply will not be able to accomplish such a lofty goal! On the other hand, I will promise that there will not be an almost two-year span between blog entries again!

The problem with letting such a long time go by is that I’ve probably lost any followers that I did have before of my little blog. Alas, I will miss them! I can only hope that I will be fortunate enough to perhaps have them return and to gain some more as time goes by – if my writing is good enough, that is. Only time will tell, I suppose. I guess I will have to hope that my life will be be interesting enough to write about, right? That’s the trick!

So, where to begin? I’ll start by telling you about what my newest project is. So much has happened, it’s hard to know where to begin. When I was last here, I wrote that I was I was writing my memoirs. Well, as often happens in life, “things” got in the way of that project, so I’ve had to start all over again. Yep – that’s right, my friends. I’m starting from scratch. But at least now I know where I’m going with it, thank goodness. That last time was quite a shaky beginning, but I’m not going to get into all of that right now. All you need to know is that I am FINALLY going to begin my autobiography.

Did you know that there is a difference between an autobiography and memoirs? Now I prefer to call them my “memoirs” because I think that the word “memoirs” sounds so much more stylish, don’t you? 🙂 But, as I have learned, memoirs usually refers to an account of memories from a certain period of life whereas an autobiography refers to a person’s entire lifetime, and that’s what I want to write about – my entire lifetime, not just one period in my life.

If you’ve read any of my previous blog entries, you’ve already read about some of my life stories, and some of those stories will be in my book. As I’m writing my autobiography, I’ll share with you some of the details of this experience. I think it might be an interesting ride, don’t you? Oh, don’t worry – there’s other things that are going on in my life right now, too, and I’ll tell you all about it.

It’s a new day. And I’m going to enjoy it!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:  “This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson