GOING HOME

Last Dec. 7, just three days before her 100th birthday, my mom died. She had been comatose for the previous two weeks after falling due to a stroke. Every once in a while, she would open her eyes and smile for a moment, then go back to sleep. On the day before she died, she opened her eyes briefly and spoke to me. I think she said, “Go home.”

“Go home” in my mom’s vocabulary for many years meant: “Don’t spend time here worrying about me. I’m fine. Go home and take care of your family. I’m fine.” When I heard her say that, I almost laughed. There she was on her deathbed, and as usual, she was worrying about me being tired or not getting enough rest.

Her funeral was a true celebration of life. She was a Christian and had been ready to go be with her Lord for many years. Her joke to the family was, “I don’t know why the Lord won’t take me … he must have not finished my mansion!” At her funeral, four pastors – her local church pastor, my brother, and his two sons, all ministers – spoke of their time with her. At the reception afterward, we had birthday cake to celebrate the birthday that she almost had. The funeral director’s comment was that this was a very unusual funeral.

The next week, the week before Christmas, as I sat and started to think about writing thank you notes for the many expressions of sympathy, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of joy … a feeling that somewhat shocked me. As I sat and thought about it, I realized that I was truly excited for Mom. She was no longer encumbered by a frail body and mind. She was with Jesus and probably having quite the celebration. It was at that moment I realized that my mom had truly gone home!

— Diane Helbing

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist