My dear, faithful mother-in-law died on Christmas morning. This patient, long-suffering woman finally got to go home to be with her beloved husband and parents. She so wanted to die and we wanted her to be relieved of her suffering so much so that it was hard to be sad at her passing and yet she has left a giant hole in our family. We pass by her bedroom door and feel the pang of her absence. We walk into the house and automatically think to check on her. It’s lunch time and I have to remind myself that she not here to fix lunch for. It’s not just her physical absence but also her example of cheerfully enduring her situation and rising above her circumstances by deciding to be pleasant no matter what. We never left her room without receiving a thank you. When people visited her she focused on them, and she sang songs with my youngest every night. We miss her optimism, her implicit faith and prayers in our behalf, I guess…we just miss her.
