Friday: dying mom stories

This morning I went to my Mom's group at church.  The topic was praying for your kids.  After brunch and announcements the speaker was introduced...as someone who has practiced praying for her kids and had a legacy of her mom praying for her.

She started her story.  With many of the details omitted, her mom was diagnosed with cancer when she was in high school and then died five years later when she was in college.  Needless to say, I couldn't handle it.  I tried.  But about she was talking about her mom actually dying I left.

I don't do stories in which moms die.  I don't watch those movies.  I don't read those books.  I skip those TV episodes.  Honestly, I probably would have skipped, or at least ducked out early, if I had known what the story would involve.  Is it a worthwhile story and worthy of being told?  Absolutely.   Is the point, that I left too early for, important?  Of course.  But I couldn't deal with it at the time.  The passage of time makes the hurt a smaller part of your life, but it can still show up painfully.

Someone did follow me out to the parking lot.  She gave me a long hug and prayed for me.  Later I had lunch with Betsy, who knows a similar hurt and understands the triggers and we commiserated. 

And I thought about Mom a little more than normal today, and that's not a bad thing.