It's In The Dash

Sitting in Seekers having a decaf and thinking about the events of the last week.

It's been several years since the passing of my parents and quite honestly I never thought Cindy's mom would die. She's always been so healthy (92 years old) and up til just a few short months ago was pretty with it.

But suddenly we get the call that she's having trouble breathing, the doctor's been called for an assessment. Within an hour the news is that she's fading quickly and it might be a couple hours or couple of days. We pile in the car and make last minute arrangements for the puppies and we're off to Detroit. One hour on the road and Cindy's sister calls and tells us she's gone.

Immediately I am recalling our first meeting - flashing through many birthdays and Christmas'- awesome dinners - and then I'm brought to tears when I think of how much joy it gave her to make me my sour cream frosted chocolate cake.

A more unselfish woman I'll never meet (unless of course you know my wife Cindy).

We get to mom's house and wait for Cindy's sisters to return from lunch with all of mom's stuff from the nursing home. More tears and a lot of stories. The rest of New Years Eve is a blur - we're exhausted and retire by 10pm.

Back to Cleveland after shoveling the wet snow out of the drive, finish my sermon, my funeral message, pack and thank the Ricci's for going above and beyond by taking our terrors, I mean terriers, back to their house for a few days.

Jenny makes the long trek with a 6 month old from Tennessee, Jason and Amy come to Cleveland from Chicago, drop their dogs with Carol and then ride back to Detroit with us. A lot of talking about mom, and more tears. Cindy knits patiently as mile after mile passes and I see where she got such a gift - that was one of Wyvonna's passions.

The whole family is now back at moms for a pizza party - the pictures come out and we pick enough for a slide show. Jason puts it together for the funeral. I uploaded the movie we made for mom at the following link. http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=jsivyer01


Viewing hours are short on Friday, just 3 hours - other than my family, an old friend, 90 year old May comes to pay respects.

The funeral is Saturday - we call Gene (Cindy's brother) in San Diego on the speaker phone (he was too sick to travel) and he shares some beautiful thoughts about mom. So do the rest of the children and grand kids. Then we're off to the cemetery, my brothers blessed me by singing with me "This World Is Not My Home" and we say our final goodbyes.

Next thing you know we re dashing back to Cleveland. And that's my key point I want to make. It's not about the day we are born or the day we die - it's in the dash. How are you doing during your dash? Leaving a legacy? What kind?

On Sunday, January 27th I'll be speaking about this thing called a legacy - I hope you'll do some thinking about it and come prepared to hear what God puts on my heart.

Finally, your calls, cards, and beautiful flowers have all added to the healing. I hope you enjoy the movie. Wish you could have met her.