As Monday evenings draw to a close each week, I am aware that Tuesday morning is around the corner and that I have made a personal commitment to write on that day. I’m finding that during the last hours I am awake on Mondays my thoughts are turning to the question “what shall I write about in the morning?” So, last evening and now this morning are no different as I attempt to answer that question. I admit that I have several areas that I could share with you dear reader, but I believe that the calendar dates of this new week are dictating the topic.

As you read  this you may wonder is she going to write about the 21st marking the official beginning of spring? Or, more significantly, will she focus on the 24th which is Palm Sunday? While those are two good topics to discuss, I am choosing the 21st and 24th for different reasons today. It was on March 21, 1999  that my dear  mother entered Heaven and on March 24 2012 my father joined her for all of eternity. And if that isn’t enough to begin weaving a short writing with, my parents were married on March 24, 1945. Mom’s funeral took place on March 24, 1999.

For many years I thought of my parents as “perfection”. In my eyes they could do no wrong and I also believed that they would live forever. My head knowledge told me that this was foolishness, but my heart made me somehow believe that I’d have them with me forever. Those days of dreaming that to be true gave way to their aging, slowing down, and respective illnesses. Mom’s was cancer. I found myself in the role of caregiver the weekend she checked out of the hospital and into Hospice care in her home. She wanted to be home in order to go Home. When the imminent signs of death were upon her it was 4 am Sunday morning when dad and I were drawn to her bedside and God gave me a gift I will never forget. My loving father scooped his beloved to himself and offered this prayer: “Heavenly Father, we commit Ida’s spirit back to You…..” the prayer contained other words and phrases but this is the sentence that is etched on my heart.  Mom lived long enough for my brothers, my own family and mom’s sister to arrive in order that at 9:15 am on Sunday, March 21 we said our final goodbyes and Heaven gained a saint whose name had been recorded in the Book of Life since her commitment to Christ as a very little girl.

Dad’s end of life experience was alzheimer’s disease. He lived 3 years with this dibilitating sickness and  in early March of 2012 he too was placed in the care of Hospice in his residence care home. Selfishly I admit that I had asked God to be at his bedside when he passed but that was not to be so. On the Saturday that dad would be called Home it was my brother and his wife who had been with dad. Accompanying them was my niece and her daughter. About 8:30 pm they decided dad was comfortable and said their goodbyes for the drive back home. Jessica leaned Ainsley down to kiss Papa Jack goodnight which startled dad and as his eyes opened Ainsley put her finger to her nose and said “shhhh, night night” and they left for home. Twenty minutes after his good night kisses dad was in the presence of Heaven. That was March 24, his 67th wedding anniversary.

Proverbs 16:9 states “In his heart a man plans his course but the Lord determines his steps”. It would consume several pages to deliver the back story of how my parents met, dated and eventually married. Those are all good topics for future writing and I just may do that in the coming weeks and months. But for now I am focusing on the significance of their respective dates for being reunited in Heaven. I don’t believe in coincidence; I believe in God-incidence. I believe in the truth that my Heavenly Father knows the number of days for each life created  by Him and I believe that God has left me with a gift of sweet memories as March 21 and March 24 appear on the calendar of my heart. I also know that the little girl who wanted her parents to be with her forever is actually another truth. Their love for each other and their children is written on my heart and with greater importance they ARE living forever. The only difference is their address has changed. Each left their last home and now live forever in their permanent Home. I’m hoping mom’s has a beautiful kitchen for creating those wonderful meals we  always enjoyed and dad’s has a complete workshop to create sawdust. Oh, so that mom can sweep the sawdust into neat little piles!

Happy anniversary mom and dad. Happy Homecoming! See you soon. I love you both!