My Mom turns 86 today. What an amazing life she has led, and what an amazing woman she is. Thought I’d share just a few thoughts about her.
Every week I take Mom to church. She’s not always up for it, and I’m not always in town, but we still go often. And whatever church we attend, be it our regular church home or visiting another church, somebody comes up to my Mom and says, “Dee Goble! Do you remember me? I was in your bible study back in….” They usually then launch into a story about that bible study being the one they learned the most from. My Mom, with her crippled legs and degenerative eyesight, beams with happiness. This is how she loves being remembered.
It’s her spiritual strength that makes my Mom unique. Her love for God is amazing. Her commitment to others around her is a hallmark of her life. A bible is never far from her side, and she’s read through it more times than anybody I know save a few vocational ministers. Faith in God, in Christ, is a cornerstone of her life. In many ways, it is her life.
That faith has sustained her through a topsy turvy life. There were some great times for her, and she considers herself incredibly blessed. But she’s suffered a lot in life. She was a true coal miner’s daughter from Oklahoma and was born just in time for the Great Depression. She remembers hearing about Pearl Harbor a few months before graduating from high school and saw the worried looks on the boys in her class because they knew they’d be heading off to war. Some did not return.
She married my Dad during the war and spent a lot of time alone as he was trained and shipped out. After the war, raising four kids was hard enough as a young Mom. But she always said she married too early and that made family life more difficult. The marriage lasted 35 tumultuous years. The divorce was especially hard on her. Mom held her head high and grew deeper in her faith rather than slip into bitterness. In her late 50’s she began traveling the world as a short term missionary, and in her 60’s she joined the Salvation Army (taking the oath and getting the uniform!). In her 70’s she had a minor stroke and that took some of her independence away. In her 80’s she lost her daughter, my sister, to cancer. I have been told by psychologists that there is no pain like the pain of losing a child. Somehow my Mom kept it together and became a source of strength to our family during that time. This was even more remarkable because in the midst of losing her daughter, my Mom was losing her eyesight. It was a major blow for a person who would read even more than I do and loves bird watching.
So as I said, my Mom has suffered a lot. She has also enjoyed great blessings in her life, and she continues to be thankful. In fact, thankfulness is part of who she is. She could easily slip into times of despair and anguish, depression and frustration. And she does at times. But for the most part, she’s resilient beyond anything one might expect.
My Mom, circa 1944:
Me and Mom in a recent photo:
