This coming Sunday is Mothers Day. I would love nothing more then to make a date with my mom, take her out to a nice lunch and maybe a movie. I still spend time looking for the perfect Mother's Day card, even though I have no address to mail it to should I find that perfect one that details how much I love her. ( Memories of Mother In Heaven ) I scan through the cards on the racks, and see a small section of 'I miss you' cards. Even if I filtered through those I would have no where to send a card telling my mom how much I miss her, which is almost as much as I love her. Heaven has no address and there are no visiting hours to visit our loved ones anyway. I will spend this Mother's Day just like I have spent the last two. I will take about an hour to sit and reflect on the memories we had when we shared the same air on earth. I will sift through what remains in the memory box I keep full of items that allow me to touch a piece of mom outside of my heart. I will thank God for sharing her life with me even though it was shorter than it should have been, shorter than I expected it to be.
I think about my friend Annie, who lost her daughter Gracie to cancer at the age of eight. ( Memories of A Daughter In Heaven ) While I am a son no longer able to reach his mother, Annie is a mother no longer to reach her daughter. God shared Gracie with Annie for eight years. I know that as difficult as it was the last two years of Gracie's life, Annie would of spent the rest of days caring for her sick little girl if only God would allowed her to keep her. Gracie left this world making sure she left as many memories as she could for her parents. She left her mommy with many pictures she had drawn that told the story of how much Gracie appreciated the mom that Annie was to her. Perhaps the one item I remember working on with Gracie to put in that special memory box she was leaving her mommy was a homemade thank you card, thanking her for being the best mommy in the world. Thanking her for being OK with God allowing her to go home to Him.
In that note Gracie thanked her mommy for being her Mommy, her Nurse, her Teacher, her Friend, her Hero. She thanked her mommy for all the hours of sleep she lost to stay up with her when she was sick. All the hours she spent cooking special foods for her to keep her strength up. All the hours she put into making Gracie's short life the best it could be. She added a PS to her card that said "Thank you for loving daddy and marrying daddy so that I could have the best parents ever." I imagine that on Sunday Annie will read that card and cry happy tears and sad tears. I imagine that on Sunday Annie will sit and go through her memory box and be happy she was a mother to Gracie. I imagine, like myself, on Mother's Day Annie will feel as lost without her daughter as I will feel without my mother. I imagine a sunny day clouded with a bit of grief.
The following poem was created by my little Amazing Gracie and myself when we were reading about Footprints in the Sand and talking about how no matter where we are, we are not alone because God is always next to us. I so cherish this poem even more now that Gracie is gone, It is her words, I just provided words that rhymed and she put it together. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It truly represents how Gracie felt about how much love we can hold in our hearts.
I think about my friend Annie, who lost her daughter Gracie to cancer at the age of eight. ( Memories of A Daughter In Heaven ) While I am a son no longer able to reach his mother, Annie is a mother no longer to reach her daughter. God shared Gracie with Annie for eight years. I know that as difficult as it was the last two years of Gracie's life, Annie would of spent the rest of days caring for her sick little girl if only God would allowed her to keep her. Gracie left this world making sure she left as many memories as she could for her parents. She left her mommy with many pictures she had drawn that told the story of how much Gracie appreciated the mom that Annie was to her. Perhaps the one item I remember working on with Gracie to put in that special memory box she was leaving her mommy was a homemade thank you card, thanking her for being the best mommy in the world. Thanking her for being OK with God allowing her to go home to Him.
In that note Gracie thanked her mommy for being her Mommy, her Nurse, her Teacher, her Friend, her Hero. She thanked her mommy for all the hours of sleep she lost to stay up with her when she was sick. All the hours she spent cooking special foods for her to keep her strength up. All the hours she put into making Gracie's short life the best it could be. She added a PS to her card that said "Thank you for loving daddy and marrying daddy so that I could have the best parents ever." I imagine that on Sunday Annie will read that card and cry happy tears and sad tears. I imagine that on Sunday Annie will sit and go through her memory box and be happy she was a mother to Gracie. I imagine, like myself, on Mother's Day Annie will feel as lost without her daughter as I will feel without my mother. I imagine a sunny day clouded with a bit of grief.
The following poem was created by my little Amazing Gracie and myself when we were reading about Footprints in the Sand and talking about how no matter where we are, we are not alone because God is always next to us. I so cherish this poem even more now that Gracie is gone, It is her words, I just provided words that rhymed and she put it together. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It truly represents how Gracie felt about how much love we can hold in our hearts.
"Hand Prints On Your Heart: by Amazing Grace
(with help from the boy with the funny name, Jett)
When I feel all alone like no one else is with me.
I just look inside my heart to see what I can see.
There is lots of love there, from all the days gone by.
So many people love me it makes me want to cry.
On the days I feel all alone like no one cares about me.
I just look inside my heart to see what I can see.
So much love lives in there it almost overflows.
So many people love me and it just grows and grows.
When I get sad and my heart feels really empty.
I think of all the wishes all my friends have sent me.
They may never have even met me or know who I really am.
But they left their hand prints on my heart, and now they are my friends.
So when your day is really sad and you think you are alone.
Put your hand to your chest and feel the love you own.
Feel the hand prints of the people who really do care.
They left them there to show you how to love and share.
Hand prints on your heart will never go away,
So don't be sad and lonely, go on and enjoy your day.
You are loved by many, even more than you could know.
For many people leave them there, to help you love and grow.
(with help from the boy with the funny name, Jett)
When I feel all alone like no one else is with me.
I just look inside my heart to see what I can see.
There is lots of love there, from all the days gone by.
So many people love me it makes me want to cry.
On the days I feel all alone like no one cares about me.
I just look inside my heart to see what I can see.
So much love lives in there it almost overflows.
So many people love me and it just grows and grows.
When I get sad and my heart feels really empty.
I think of all the wishes all my friends have sent me.
They may never have even met me or know who I really am.
But they left their hand prints on my heart, and now they are my friends.
So when your day is really sad and you think you are alone.
Put your hand to your chest and feel the love you own.
Feel the hand prints of the people who really do care.
They left them there to show you how to love and share.
Hand prints on your heart will never go away,
So don't be sad and lonely, go on and enjoy your day.
You are loved by many, even more than you could know.
For many people leave them there, to help you love and grow.
