She actually listens to me..........my older daughter that is. She was comforting a friend whose sister was tragically killed in a car accident this morning when she told him something I had told her when she was first diagnosed w/ Crohn's Disease. Her friend was questioning why God would let his dad die due to cancer three months ago and now take his sister who was only a senior in high school. And here's where she said something to the effect of, "We can't know why, but we have to trust that God believes we have strength to handle this b/c he doesn't bestow this type of suffering on just anyone." I don't know if I was more proud that she had listened to me, or that she had been comforting this friend. I must admit she showed greater faith than I b/c when I learned of the tragedy all I could say was "Why? Why would God put that family through such pain?"
Mom always took the attitude that someone, somewhere was always in worse shape than she was. All we have to do is open our eyes and our hearts to that suffering, and we'll realize that we're pretty lucky. Once, while at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, for one of my daughter's many doctor appointments, we were humbled by a man who had obviously suffered from severe burns. He no longer had any eyes, merely indentations where the sockets used to be, and his nose was only two slits. He chatted pleasantly w/ the man who served as his guide. After he left the elevator we had shared, my daughter and I looked at each other and said, "Makes you realize there's always somebody worse off than yourself."
The loss of my mother pales in comparison to the loss of a husband and a daughter; a father and a sister within three months of each other. I hope the father was there to guide his daughter to God's presence, and I hope Mom was part of the Welcoming Committee.
No comments:
Post a Comment