Final Goodbye

The Final Goodbye

We knew this day was coming for 2 1/2 years but one is never truly ready for the final good bye.  On January 15 Sherry's mom had a massive stroke which left her paralyzed on her left side.  She spent 3 days in the hospital and the doctors all agreed that she was not going to recover so we made the decision to move her to Hospice House for her final days.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I treasured those 5 days as I stayed with her 24/7.  I was able to minister to her in ways that I hope gave her comfort and alleviated any fear she might have had.  Our family came daily and each one of them was able to say goodbye and spend time alone with her along with multitude of friends from Church and elsewhere.  We read scripture to her, prayed with her, laughed with her as we shared memories, told her how much we loved her and held her.

I want to leave you with a glimpse of the kind of woman my mom was through life. I am going to use Proverbs 31:10-31 as my jumping off point because as I read these passages today I saw my mom.
These are the qualities that made Dorothy P. Witt.

She was a faithful wife to my dad and to her second husband George. Never once did she flirt with other men or give them anything but loyal support in their life work or care for our family.

She was frugal and the best bargain hunter ever. She would go into a store and end up getting the items for even less than the sale price.  We all loved to shop with her.

She was excellent with finances and just knew how to make a dollar stretch. She helped so many people with their budgets that I cannot count.  She worked as a book keeper until she was 90 years old.

She taught me to be content with what I had.  Mom grew up in the depression and did without so much but enjoyed the things she had and never felt slighted that she did not have more.

She loved to feed us.  Whenever I was struggling she would go into the kitchen and whip up a cake or pie or some other goodie because that is just what she did.  She also would get up and fix us breakfast, a quality I did not inherit.

She was willing to work hard and long.  Her work ethic was exemplary and no matter what she set her hand to do she did it with excellence.

She loved to help people and was always looking for someone who was in a difficult place so she could come along side of them and minister.  It was not unusual for  her to anonymously go pay off a lay away Christmas or electric or other bill for a single mom or widow or sometimes a family that was just going through a  hard time.

She was great at planning out what she and everyone else would wear or what we would eat or where we needed to go the next day or week or month or even year sometimes.  She was great and remembering birthdays, anniversaries etc and always had cards in advance to send to people.  I did not inherit this trait either. LOL.

She was kind and thoughtful to everyone and loved to share bits of wisdom with each one.  Even last week as she lay in the bed paralyzed she was writing down last bits of wisdom for her family.  One of which was to couples,  you should always save the wife income because the husband can't get pregnant and lose his job.  She was amazing.

My dads coworkers were all jealous of him because mom was such a good wife and they were always wanting to come home for dinner with my dad.  She loved it because she loved people and loved him.

She set the tone of our home.  She was consistently happy and cheerful. And if she was having a bad day, she would get over it quickly after spending time with the Lord.

She taught me to look ahead not back.   She would say to me "Sherry, let the past stay in the past, today is a new day and we need to live in the present."  Great advice especially now.

She was fiercely loyal and protective of her family and friends.

She was never idle so these past few years were very difficult for her because she could not do too much physically.  But she wrote devotions and was working on her life story when she died.  You can access her writings at thegrannygrams.blogspot.com.

Her main focus in life was telling others about Jesus.  Her spiritual gifts were Evangelism, Giving, and Service and she was faithful in each.

I want to end this post by saying what an incredible privilege it has been to not only be raised by mom but to care for her these past few years.  I am rejoicing in my heart that she is now with her Savior and enjoying the fruit of her life work.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.  Proverbs 31:30.