Goodbye, Mom

As I write this, we are planning to travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for my mother-in-law's funeral.  She lived in that town for approximately 50 years in the house she and her husband built in 1960.  When her health became such that she could no longer live by herself, we moved her to an assisted living facility in Raleigh so she could be close to us.  I never met her husband as he passed away in 2000 at the age of 80.
We are so thankful we had time to say goodbye to Mom before she passed from this life.  It's never easy to see someone you love die, yet we all must die sooner or later.  As she lingered on her hospital bed, unaware and unresponsive, our hearts were broken knowing that she'd soon breathe her last breath on earth and would slip into another realm which is more real than this earthly realm.  I didn't mourn for what she was gaining - eternal life - but for my loss and the loss of those around me. 
My husband held his mother's hand, kissed it gently as tears dripped and cried at the loss of her touch.  Her hair was pure white, a crown she wore proudly, and was as fine as baby hair.  Skin as soft as a baby's bottom graced her face, and her hands were spotted from age.  Several inches of height had been stolen to osteoporosis and her middle had thickened with age, but she was Mom.  She was special.  But she is ours no more in the physical realm.
We've cleaned out her apartment, given away her clothes, and divided the remaining furniture and useful objects; she doesn't need them any more.  She's free from all the drudgery of this life, from a body that no longer functions the way it used to, and from the restrictions of being human.  She now has her glorified body and is clothed in righteousness as she worships the God who saved her.
Even as we continue to grieve and say our final goodbyes, we'll remember the woman we knew, the mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother, mother-in-law, and above all - friend - that graced the earth with her presence for the last 90+ years.  Cherished memories now cling to our hearts and minds like raindrops that water the earth as they fall from the sky. 
I've been privileged to know Elizabeth Jones Stewart these last 6.5 years.  But because of Christ, I know I will see her again when He calls my name and I rise to meet Him - what a blessed assurance!

Taken December 23, 2012 - my husband, Bob, his oldest daughter, Ellen (pregnant with her second child), and Mom.