This blog and this post are both dedicated to our mom, Madeline.
When my sister Sandy and I were younger, an ad came out for some movie…totally can’t remember what it was, but the ad had the line “This is our mom. Pray for us”. At the time, we thought it was hilarious. Whenever Mom did something that annoyed us, we rolled our eyes and laughed about that line. How time changes things.
Jumping forward in time, we began to more fully appreciate Mom for who she was and all that she accomplished in her life. I confess, I did not fully grasp her impact until shortly before she passed away.
Mom spent much of her last year either in the hospital or a nursing facility and it was difficult. Mom was widely known as a hugger and gave pretty much everyone she met a hug, along with her signature “Have a blessed day”. For that reason, we are thankful that her final days were before the pandemic hit. Isolation would have been unbearable.
For a brief time, Mom was in a nursing home that did not provide adequate care. They forgot to bring her meal trays a few times and were slow to respond to calls for help. One of Mom’s nurses was cranky and rude. Mom stopped her one day and took her hand. She said she was sorry that she disliked her job so much and asked if she could pray for her. That was a very Mom thing to do.
Mom’s last days were spent in a lovely hospice facility set in the woods. Her caretakers were wonderful and gave her any comfort they could. One family brought in puppies. Mom got to hold one in her hospital bed, and it made her day. Mom never met a dog she didn’t love.
During those last days, many people came to visit. One friend came out of the woodwork and was truly an angel. She said Mom had helped her so much when her husband passed away, and that she just felt the need to help her in return. Another friend talked of how she had broken her ankle and Mom came and cleaned her house. Mom said she didn’t remember it, but that it must have needed to be done.
The stories go on, but a striking one was when the youth group from Mom’s church chose to spend their time together visiting Mom. Each student came up, talked with Mom and held her hand. She knew them all and said encouraging things to each of them. It was truly remarkable and something I will never forget.
Mom volunteered at several organizations over the years and her church decided to honor her by making an annual donation to the Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse in her name. The fund is called Madeline’s Child.
Recently, I was sharing this story with someone. The response was that it was “a life well lived”. These words have stuck in my mind and are part of the reason why this blog is dedicated to Mom. Since she loved hummingbirds, the name Mama Hummingbird seems fitting.
Please join us. We hope you may connect with some of our stories. We would love to hear your thoughts in return. Please email us at mamahummingbirdbooks@gmail.com.
Have a blessed day.