My Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. She would have been 79. I think of her all the time. Sometimes when I pray I ask my Father in Heaven to relay messages to her. I don't know. Perhaps she is still in our area or with us frequently and I just don't have the faith to see with my spiritual eyes her realilty. I truly feel that she knows what is happening and what I am feeling, that she is here with me. And I know that Heavenly Father knows her and loves her and He loves me and so I have to believe that somehow the communication lives on.

I think that one of Mom's most precious gifts was always choosing to believe the best in people. This wasn't contrived or fake - it was real, genuine concern for people - Heavenly Father's children and her brothers and sisters. From my earliest memories I can hear her always looking for the good in a person rather than the negative. If I (or anyone else for that matter) did something that was beneath them she would always try to understand, to find a reason that would explain the errant behavior. She would never believe that it was just because the person was stupid, a jerk, or just plain evil - she just didn't see it them way. She would always counsel me to try and understand the other person's point of view or to believe that there was a benign reason for bad behavior. One of the major blessings from her example and teachings was that I learned to not take things so personally, to not find offense easily, to give other's the benefit of the doubt. It is certainly easier to believe that something done or said that hurt was done in thoughtlessness rather than with the intention to harm. She easily forgave and was quick to recognize remorse and sadness in others. I can't ever think of a time when she jumped to a conclusion about someone's motives that wasn't flattering, understanding, patient, or kind. My Uncle Vance (her little brother) used to say that when he got to heaven he hoped that she would be his advocate or a witness in his defense because she could make Hitler a sympathetic figure - and if she could do that for Hitler then what could she do for him! LOL I'm with Uncle Vance - I hope she'll be my advocate as well and I so want to be worthy of her advocacy.