Death Comes in Three's
I've heard the saying, "Death comes in three's." I've never been superstitious but
sometimes things happen in strange ways. My dear mother has been gone for four
and a half months. About six weeks ago we got a call from our niece, Jane. She
told us that her older half-brother, Carl, had died of a heart attack in his
bathroom. I couldn't believe it. Carl is just one year younger than our oldest
son, Pat. Carl is my husband's brother's boy. Carl had lost his wife, Sherry
about six years ago and now he is gone, leaving two young sons, Carl, Jr., and
Adam. At this writing, both boys are fully grown, but it doesn't seem so long
ago when Carl was a young boy running around playing cowboys and Indians with
his friends. My first thought on his passing was that he grieved himself to
death over the loss of his wife. But, scuttlebutt rumored that he drank a lot
and did some drugs too. Oh, what a waste of a young life, leaving two young men
without either parent now. How sad. My husband and I attended Carl'sfuneral. There were many people there that we didn't know, probably Carl's friends and co-workers.

We did get a chance to see and talk to his mother, Barbara. It had been many years since we had seen her. Of course Carl's dad, Bill, was there with Jean, his present wife of 30 years or more. Carl's other siblings were there also. It was good to see everyone again, but not under these sad circumstances.

I viewed the still, cold body of our nephew lying in the coffin and thought to myself, this could be our son, Pat. Thank God, it wasn't. The pain of seeing someone so young lying in a coffin hurts almost asmuch though. I hurt inside for his dear mother, Barbara. I was not over losing my own mother, and now to feel the loss of our nephew was almost too much to bear right now. I could only console myself with prayer for Carl and his family.Two deaths of loved ones was enough to bear. But we knew someone else would eventually be gone also.

My dear, younger sister, Barbara Ann, was suffering for two years from Lou Gehrigs disease (ALS). Each time we visited her, she was weaker than the time before. It nearly broke my heart to see her so quickly fadeing away. She had lost down to 60-65 pounds. There was no fat on her at all, just skin stretched over bone. I could almost see through her hand when she held it up to the light. In just a little over a year her hands had gotten gnarled and bent from the severe arthritus that settled in them. Her feet had also gotten bent in the toes. She could no longer walk and just lay half-sitting in her lounge chair, covered with one or two blankets to keep herself warm. Her skin was cold to the touch. I had never seen my sister so weak and wan before. I prayed every day and night for her. I knew she would not survive this deadly disease. She knew it too. In fact, when she found out what she had, she told everyone that she would not survive. She also did not want people feeling sorry for her, but she did request prayer. My thoughts were, if God healed her of this disease, she would be the first to survive it. I prayed for her recovery, but I also knew that if she survived, she would be the first to ever do it. She would be a miracle walking.

Weeks, and then months went by. Then on March 1st Charles, my sister Gene, and I went to visit her. She was so weak she could not communicate with us verbally. She shook her head for "yes" or "no." Her daughter Kim was there to help her with water. She had stopped eating several days before. Barbara was breathing heavilly, gaping every other breath. Gene looked at me and I, her. I knew she was thinking, it's just like mother did before she died. I nodded. We kissed Barbara and told her we loved her and that we'd be back tomorrow. It was the last time we saw her alive. Daryl, her son, called us the next morning at 8:30 and told us his mother passed away quietly at 8:20 that morning, two days before her 70th birthday on March 4th. She could celebrate her birthday with Jesus and mother this year.

Our prayers for Barbara's easy passing had been answered once again. God is so good and kind and merciful. Death was not a struggle for Barbara or Mother. The angels took both of them quietly and led them to Jesus' waiting arms. With each one there must have been great rejoicing in heaven for they were welcomed also by our grandmothers, grandfathers, sisters, brothers, and aunts and uncles. It must have been wonderful. It was party-time in heaven for my family who had gone before.

I have to think these positive thoughts or I would be wrapped in a blanket of depression all the time. I miss my mother and sister so much, but I am happy for them to be in such a wonderful home now. I must go on from day to day without them.

Anyone who is reading this, please say a prayer for our family. That's all I ask, prayer for strength to go on in this life until the Father sees fit to prepare us a place in heaven also.

God bless you all who have had great losses such as our family has suffered. I believe when we cry for those we've lost, it is for ourselves that we weep. We have been left behind to pick up the pieces of our lives and live the best that we can until God calls us home too.

Until next time when you visit this blog, may God go with you each day and give you many blessings. Amen