A Life Well Lived

      As many of you know we came home early because my mom passed away in June. Unfortunately, we didn’t get here in time to say goodbye but we did make the funeral services. It was a whirlwind but we made it and I felt like I was dealing with it pretty well. Things have settled down now, we have been here five and a half months. The last few weeks have been a lot more difficult. I think in some ways it is just starting to hit home and maybe I’m just starting to deal with it.

      What has made it easier for me is hearing what she meant to so many other people. It seems like she touched people in every  phase of her life. She worked at the Department of Social Services. I’ve had people come up to me and say that they worked with her in the late 60’s and had great stories to tell about her. My dad got a call after she passed away from a man who she had taken into protective custody as a child who was heartbroken over her passing.

      After she retired she really got  involved at her church. Not long ago we got a very nice note from the ladies group at her church. They voted to rename the group after her. They said she had revived the group and it was a reminder to them to continue to serve the church and the community.

     In addition to her work and her church my mom also had an impact on the community. She volunteered at several different organizations that helped underprivileged people in our community. I have had two different people come up to me in the last two weeks who served with her and tell me what an inspiration she was to them.

     We’ve only lived the in Spartanburg area for a short time over the past 11 years. I feel like we missed out on so many memories of her. But what we do have and what we gain every time someone shares a story with us are insights into a life well lived. We also have the encouragement that what we do truly does make a difference.

      I want to say thank you to each of you who have shared a story with me. I also want to thank you for your prayers. But most of all I want to thank my mom for not taking the easy road, for taking the path less traveled, and reaching out to her fellow man along the way. Thanks for being the encouragement and the example for me to finish well.

Matt