Sweet Memories

As I’m writing this, it’s Mother’s Day 2020, and there’s a lump in my throat. Although this is my 10th Mother’s Day without my sweet Mama and my 5th year without my sweet mother-in-law who was like a mother to me, I still miss them. Remembering them is bittersweet. Gratitude fills me as I look at photos of their dear faces and reflect on the things I learned from them and the kind things they did for me. And remembering the sweetness of their constant love causes me to miss them all the more.

That’s why the 7th verse in the 10th chapter of Proverbs attracted my attention. I’ve written about it before (see my blog post dated March 5, 2015), but I’m sharing the verse again since I so agree with the truth it expresses. The memories of these dear ones continue to bless me even now as their influence lingers on.

Perhaps you, too, have sweet memories of people who were precious to you. If so, then I know you’ll agree, as I do, with these words written centuries ago:

Memories

Although I don’t always attend the Burgess family reunion every year, I do think about the experiences I've had with many of those who might have been there (and those who’ve passed away).

I especially think of Daddy and Mama and the sweetness of the life we shared before his death in 1982 and hers in 2011. Although we struggled financially, we were rich in many ways. Love filled our home, our church, and our community. Family and wonderful neighbors lived nearby and always helped us, as we did them. My sister and I always felt we had TWO homes, ours and Aunt Delia and Uncle Howard’s home, which was “up the road” about a quarter of a mile from ours. On weekends, when my older brothers and sisters often brought their families, our house bulged at the seams and happy voices mingled in the air.

As I think back on those days with those dear people, I thank God for the blessing they were to me then—and now, for as the writer of Proverbs 10:7 (NIV) so rightly says, “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing.”

Memories

Our memories of the ocean will linger on,

long after our footprints in the sand are gone.

~Anonymous

After reading the above quote, I felt led to add these words:

Likewise, our memories of loved ones linger on,

long, long after they from this life have gone.

Then, I recalled these words, found in Proverbs 10:7:

The memory of the righteous is a blessing....

Those words reminded me of a song I've loved for years:

Precious mem'ries, how they linger,

How they ever flood my soul.

In the stillness of the midnight,

Sacred scenes unfold.

J. B. F. Wright, 1925

Remembering the Righteous

My heart was especially heavy one morning in mid-February because I was missing Mama and Daddy so much. Daddy had died first (March 6th) and Mama almost 29 years later on January 9th. So each year during the weeks surrounding the anniversary dates of their deaths, I feel so sad as I recall what happened around their deaths, how much I miss them, and how "orphaned" I often feel although many years have gone by since they passed away.

Thus, I was very comforted by a verse I read that particular morning: "The memory of the righteous is a blessing" (Proverbs 10:7, ESV). How true!

As I continue to think about my wonderful parents (and other dear ones who have departed this life), I realize anew how blessed I was—and am—for their influence upon my life. Goodness gracious! Even one-line descriptions of those blessings would fill several notebooks. And, as the verse says, even the memory itself is a blessing!

Therefore, I pause often to thank God for these special people, and hope that you, Dear Reader, pause to thank Him for yours.