Reflections of My Mother

Last year my daughter, a photography major, had an assignment and took this picture of my mother:

 

In the reflection on the kettle you see my mother and her hand holding the handle.  Of course, also in the reflection is my daughter snapping the picture. 

This picture has come up recently along with others that she took of mom in an assignment called the "Nena Narrative."  You see, my mother passed away this week.  If you have followed me for long you know that I tend to write when I need to sort through emotions or ideas.  When my father died in 2010, I wrote a lot of the lessons I was learning about death, dying and grief.  It was helpful to me, but I think also to others who read these writings.

Now that my mother has passed, here I am again. 

It has occurred to me reflections of images are not the only reflections of my mother there are in the world.  I have two siblings and there are grandchildren.  As we sat in hospital waiting rooms I saw in a multitude of ways reflections of my mother.



This is a picture, a reflection, of my mother and father on their wedding day.  Over the years I have often looked at this picture and others and have thought what an attractive couple they made.  Dad was dashing and handsome, my mother was young and beautiful--the picture of joy.  It is this picture that I have in my imagination of their reunion in heaven.  This couple have come together again in the joy of the moment.

The intellectual side of me might be distracted by the fact that our bodies are not the same in heaven, or even by the understanding of what heaven is supposed to be about.  Then the nostalgic, more romantic side, tells the intellectual side to shut up.

This young couple met again this week.  I envision my father meeting my mother at the gates.  I image them walking hand in hand into a paradise unimaginable to the human mind.  I imagine God there to bless the reuniting, and even in the midst of tears, I smile.  How can you not?


If you are interested in reading some of my writing from my father's passing the links are below.

Lessons I'm Learning in Death, Dying and Grief:
May 26, 2010 - Part One
May 27, 2010 - Part Two - Birth and Death
May 28, 2010 - Part Three - The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Strong
June 3, 2010 - My Father's Passing
June 4, 2010 - A Tribute to My Father
June 16, 2010 - Even if No One is With You, You Don't Die Alone
August 20, 2010 - Tears and Crying