More that a son learned

Dear Mum,

You got sick with breast cancer when I was 13. You were very brave about the cancer treatments–the double mastectomy, the chemotherapy, and the radiation treatments. I’ve never known anyone as brave as you, Mum. Naturally, I’m biased, because you’re my beloved Mum! But you underwent those treatments while still driving that beastly Chevy Suburban–the one with no power steering, with the manual transmission that frequently got stuck in between gears, and that had poor heat–to and from the hospital and work. You kept teaching as much as possible, and I never heard you complain. What love! What faith in the goodness of God!

And what kindness you and Dad showed to me, telling me to go ahead and be thirteen, to have fun with my friends, even to the point of “forgetting” about your illness. That was such a gift, do you know that? To allow me the freedom to live without bearing your awful burden constantly? It was on my heart enough, but to know that if I didn’t have on my mind all the time, you wouldn’t begrudge me that was so freeing. I learned that from you, Mum, and gave our boys that freedom when Laurel got sick in February 2019. They miss enough, as it is, and don’t need to be made to feel guilty when they have so much fun with someone that they forget about Momma for a while. I could see the relief roll of them when I told them to enjoy themselves, just like you and Dad told me to do. See? God used your illness to help me be a better Dad to my kids. No wasted suffering. That’s something Priscilla reminds me about. She’s such a good Big Sister! 🙂

Well, Mum, that’s going to have to be all for now. Work responsibilities are calling. I love you still, even though you’ve been gone for all these years. Writing to you is therapeutic, and it helps me realize how much I learned from you in the short time I knew you. God blessed me by making me your son. He blessed countless others by bringing them in contact with you. Your testimony of God’s faithfulness and mercy continues to glorify God to this day! May I also bring God glory by how I trust in Him. Amen.