My mom, Carma Blouin, died on March 14, 2012. She would have been 89 on April 6th, so lived a long life. However, the last several years were spent in an assisted living home because Mom had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
Mom was a Christian and her family knew she'd be in heaven at the moment of her death - joining my dad who went there in 1994.
Since I live in Washington State, and Mom was in Minnesota, I only got to see her once a year. For many years, I felt she knew me even though she didn't say my name. She was a person who always wanted to please, so perhaps her smile was just because someone came to see her. In any case, I prayed for her and sang to her, and she smiled.
It came to a time when her care-givers said she could no longer wear any jewelry, so an Austrian crystal heart-shaped stone on a necklace was given back to me, as I was the one who gave it to her. Whenever I wore it, I'd receive compliments. One day, while wearing it at my work place, I started to cry when I received the compliment. I explained to my customer that it had been my mom's necklace. Right then I realized that I had "lost" my mom years ago, but since the chapter of her life was not really over, I had not grieved her loss fully.
Her funeral service was truly a Celebration of her life, and all of her family members received so many loving words and hugs from friends and relatives.
I was blessed to be able to speak for a few minutes and told about her early years. She was only 2 years old in 1925 when her parents divorced. For whatever reasons, they allowed her to be raised by a great aunt, by marriage, named Robey Burch. Robey was a dear Christian woman who taught Mom about Jesus, and Mom trusted Him as her personal Savior as a young girl.
God took a sad situation and changed it into a much better one. Mom grew up to be a beautiful and caring person. From this only child, Carma, came 4 children, 10 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren! She has left us a great legacy of kindness and devotion to family and God. Such a blessing!
I am so glad she is with our dad now and most importantly with her beloved Savior!
