Peace…..I knew that Mama’s peace would bring about my pain. I knew that her absence would bring my anxiety. But, when I tell you that we had a celebration yesterday of her life, I mean we had a CELEBRATION. To know that she was loved by so many makes my heart rest easier. I may be an only child, but I wasn’t her only baby. She touched the lives of so many who cried with me and laughed with me over these last few days. When I went to her house on Tuesday to tidy up, I saw these beautiful flowers next to her driveway. It was like she was welcoming me back home. I took one of her milk glass vases, that she’d had a long wilted plant inside, and cleaned it up. I sat it beside her sink and I remembered how she could touch any flower and make it even more beautiful than it came out of the ground. I picked some other flowers and even a thistle. (Because even the prickly things can be loved and beautiful, mama said so.) But the simplicity of these purple flowers against the pure white of this vase spoke to me about Mama’s life. She wasn’t showy or prideful. But, boy howdy she was loud. Like Keisha Walton, one of her daughters adopted by love, said, “she was a lion with a sheep’s touch.” The contrast of her essence was what drew people in.
I pray that I can be more like my mama each and every day. I hope that I can live out loud to be unapologetically outspoken for the right things and to be brave enough to yield the sword of truth even when people don’t want to hear it. My mama was a woman of many talents and over the next few days, weeks, and maybe years, you will hear me tell stories of her many accomplishments. I may not live in a mansion but I know my mama has one today. Because HE lives, I can face tomorrow but because my Mama lived, I can share that love everyday.
Messpot Diaries 