Interestingly, I sense the loss of my mother less on her birthday than on mine. I suppose that's because she never forgot my birthday, which she acknowledged with a card and gift until the last year or so of her life, and perhaps too because her birthday was often overshadowed by the Thanksgiving holiday.
Together their lives were the most formative influences on mine. And tho' they've passed from the earthly plane their joy has been made complete in the eternal celebration of the marriage feast of the lamb.
My father passed away July 7, 2010, at age 85, after five years of Parkinson's and degenerative mental acuity that was never quite diagnosed. My mother lives, age 89, and unwell. I spent the night at her apartment two weeks ago, upon her release from hospital. I hadn't slept in that apartment in years, and kept on imagining my father's presence there, where he had lived for five years, and where he had died. I am so grateful to God that I had two wise, loving, and life-long faithful parents who provided for me and my three siblings, and who earnestly saw to the formation of my character. Thanks for posting.
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