A Cherished Gift

Have you ever received a gift from someone after they were long gone?

When we were cleaning out my parents house after my dad died, my sister found a diary that my mom had kept for the first half of the year of 1992. Recently, she gave it to me to read. My mother died in 2006 and we had not known that she had ever kept a diary. As I began to read through it, I was at first swept with a feeling of sadness, not because of anything my mother had written, but because I realized it was just a mere two years before she was struck with that awful stroke that changed the rest of her life. She was so active and busy and each day was filled with ordinary things that she would have never guessed she would soon be unable to do. As I continued to read, my emotion changed from sadness to thankfulness. What a blessing it is to have this memory of my 66-year old mother instead of the difficult last 12 years of her life that usually come to my mind. This was truly a gift from her  that I received seven years after she died.  It has brought back wonderful memories of a time when she was uninhibited by the physical and mental obstacles that took over her life far too early.

Her first entry of the year reads:

January 1, 1992 Wednesday. The Lord privileged us to greet another year, asleep of course, but that's a blessing too when I sometimes have near sleepless nights. We enjoyed the day quietly at home, watched most of the rose parade on TV from 11 to 1, and ate pork and sauerkraut for dinner. Delicious! The weather was balmy enough in the afternoon for us to take a hike on the boardwalk. (She refers to the wooden steps going down to the park area on their property as the "boardwalk")

On her birthday she writes:

February 3, 1992 Monday. The Lord gave me still another birthday, and it was a good day. I had several phone calls and an invitation to supper at the Clymers (my sister’s family). I was working on the comforter most of the day. We enjoyed a good supper and then played several rounds of Rook. It was a very enjoyable evening!  Soon after we got home, Glen (my brother) called and we talked a long time. It is such a blessing to have a telephone.

And on my parents wedding anniversary she journals:

March 11, 1992 Wednesday. This is our 44th wedding anniversary. That's a milestone we didn't even think about 44 years ago. Although neither of us have had all our expectations met, they have been good years and we thank God for them and for each other.

The end of April and early May she and my Dad took a trip to Florida. I’m pretty sure this is the last time that my parents made this trip by car to visit my brother and his family:

April 30 - May 7, 1992.  We drove to Florida. It was a very good trip. Enjoyed our time with Glen's family, met an interesting couple from Manitoba, Canada, who also stayed at Weaver Villa, and spent several hours with Duane (my nephew) and the V.S. Unit at John's Island.

Several days later she ends with:

May 12, 1992 Tuesday. I'm tired writing in this Diary now, so I'll just be sporadic for awhile. Too much work piling up on me.

 And that is pretty much it.  Except for a few random entries in the next couple months, Mom stopped writing in her diary. Two short years later, her life as she was used to it ended. Although she made some recovery from her stroke, never again could she walk and talk easily or do other activities that she had enjoyed doing with ease. I am grateful for this little glimpse into Mother's world (pre-stroke) and I love the memory that it brings back of days long forgotten.

I like to think of the Bible as a gift as well. Words that were written so long ago, speak to us today. The words often meet a special need in our life just when we need it most.  I have been reading through the Bible this year. Through the first part of the Old Testament I loved the stories about long ago. When I reached Psalms and Proverbs, a song or proverb often encouraged me and I would ponder on it throughout my day. As I move into the New Testament, I know that I will read about the biggest gift of all that God gave to us—His Son and how Jesus gave us the gift of salvation through his death on the cross. If not for the written word how would we know any of this?
               
I am thankful that my mother and God both left me “diaries” to read.

Mary Lehman

Secretary