I wanted to blog as a way to post travel photos for friends and family, and this post isn’t what I anticipated as the first post. But I received some bad news this afternoon. My dear friend and “other mother” entered the arms of Jesus last night. I have many good memories of this special woman who was such an incredible blessing to me, so here is one last letter to her —

Dear JJ,

Although we did not have the opportunity to spend a lot of time together the last few years, I just want you to know that your love, friendship and support meant the world to me.

A few thoughts –

• You are the only person I’ve ever known who chose the jewelry she would wear for the day, THEN picked out clothes.
• Your love of jewelry, from the cheapest costume to diamonds, was a source of great amusement for me. And not only did you love it, you definitely did not believe in the philosophy of “less is more”. And yet you looked polished every single day. I wish I had that kind of confidence and sense of personal style.
• You rarely missed an arts and crafts show, even if it only consisted of old men selling ducks made out of yellow Dixie cups and fishing line.
• Our weekly Saturday morning breakfasts were so much fun. I wonder how many hundreds of pots of coffee we drank over the years?
• I loved singing Sentimental Journey with you.
• Your life philosophy: you can never have too many sparkles.
• I adored how you said the endearment “Honey” and pronounced it with 3 syllables – Ho-uh-ney.
• You were not a person of grays but of black and white, you either loved it or hated it, all with much enthusiasm.
• Thank you for reaching down and helping me out of my pit of despair and shame, then giving me the swift kick in the butt I needed to move on.
• Although I never had the opportunity to get to know your daughters and grandchildren, I always felt like I knew them well because of your deep love and how proud you were of all of them. And I was especially awestruck today by God’s grace that allowed you to see your first great-grandchild just before entering heaven. And I have no doubt you saw her, with 20/20 vision.
• The devastating loss of your husband inadvertently taught me many lessons. I know this is a surprise since we met a number of years after his death, but your struggles with loss and grief were reminders of the importance of preparing for the unexpected and how to cope under less than ideal circumstances.
• Last but most important, because of you this prodigal daughter returned to active church membership. A compound blessing that has allowed me, in turn, to bless others.

I do not have enough words to express my deep love and gratitude for you, just know that you will be forever in my heart.

And so, dear friend and mother, I say goodbye. I know we will see each other again on the streets of gold, and will stand together and sing songs of adoration to our Lord.

With heartfelt love from your other daughter,

Terri

(Originally Published 10-13-2013)