What Happened Three Years Ago

It is blue-sky cold, sun-soaked clouds cold, on again, off again snow flurries cold. It is a beautiful day.

And it is windy.

The blue and white balloons in my hand whip forward, eager for flight. Eager to be carried away toward the blue and white horizon.

It is the third anniversary of my mother’s death, another day forever cold in my memory. But it occurs to me, as I stand on a high ledge overlooking my town, that my mom’s spirit flew forward eagerly toward a horizon I couldn’t see, the moment her breath left her body.

I let go of the strings.

The balloons swiftly fly, farther and faster. I think of how excitedly Mom’s spirit took that journey into eternity, her spirit sensing Jesus ahead.

I miss her deeply. My life hasn’t been the same since that day. And in some ways, it never will be. The Lord, the Healer, heals continually, season by season. He will continue the good work He started, a good work that reveals His grace, greater and greater as the years go by.

A grace that gently leads me through every sun and blue sky day, a grace that carries me through every snowy-white cold.