I went up to Colorado Springs to be with my mom this past weekend and something amazing happened. Let me give you a little backdrop on my mom. She is 96 and is coming up on her 97^th birthday in January. She was a high school teacher of English and Home Economics for many years until the school she was teaching at needed a Superintendent and asked her if she would be the interim. She said yes and did it for 5 years. A couple of years ago she was awarded an award for being the first woman superintendent in the state of Colorado.

After she retired, she began to sharpen her skills as a writer upon my urging. Over the next several years, she wrote numerous articles that were published in various papers around Colorado. She wrote spiritual stories that were put into weekly Sunday School papers for little children to take home.

After 49 years of marriage, my dad died in 1990 so Mom has been a widow for 25 years. During that time she has completed countless crossword puzzles (I hate crossword puzzles). She loves to walk and would go on 1-3 mile treks around Seibert, CO when the wind wouldn’t blow her over. Water aerobics were part of her regime until the pool in Flagler closed. One to two times per week you would see her at a game table playing bridge with friends who went way back. Talking about friends, she would drive either to Flagler (11 miles away) or Burlington (32 miles away) to visit her friends who were shut-ins or were in Senior Citizen Centers on a regular basis. Just a note on driving, her last driving trip was two weeks ago when she went to Flagler to get her hair fixed and visit a dear friend.

This last Saturday, I found myself alone with my mom driving from Seibert to Colorado Springs where she decided it was time to give up her home that my dad build 62+ years ago and enter a Senior Citizen Center. She had an Elvis CD that she wanted to listen to and on came old-time hymns that Elvis was singing. I began to hear my mom begin to sing along with Elvis. In the Garden came on and we both began to sing,

I come to the garden alone

While the dew is still on the roses

And the voice I hear falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses

(Refrain) And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

(Refrain) And he walks with me, and He talks with me,

And he tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

I’d stay in the garden with Him

Though the night around me be falling,

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.

(Refrain) And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there

None other has ever known.

Tears were streaming down my face. I was singing with my mother and as I write this I can’t help but cry. The greatest gift my mother gave me was her sweet spirit and her relationship with Christ. As I listened to her, I heard an angel singing and will never forget that moment as long as I live. I put my hand over on her arm and rubbed it and the love I had for her at that moment overflowed.

This journey can take you so many places were you experience ups and downs of life. Being with those who have molded your minds and thoughts can never be quantified in terms of value. Those experiences are priceless. Cease those moments with those you love during the holidays coming up.