Have you ever wondered what you might be like in the sunset years of your life? Have you planned for the financial, spiritual, and mental care you’ll need for your family? For these past few years as Mom has declined, I’ve thought of it a lot. My children had a running joke that they’ll be living far away from here so Michael and I are on our own to care for each other.
Assuming we live to old age. Anything could happen between now and then. Only God can measure our days. Far too often I’ve known those who left this world too soon. I wonder what things they left undone, words left unsaid.
This new year is a wonderful blank slate. It is full of potential and promise. There are new friends to meet and new opportunities for each of us. My resolutions for this year are different than in years past. I’m resolving not to leave things undone. I resolve not to leave words unsaid. For those of you who walk beside me in this life, you may feel a bit smothered by my affection. I may hug a bit tighter or be more forthright than usual. Here is your warning!
This time last year I never dreamed this article would happen. I’d been joking for several years about writing a book called “Mondays with Mom” along the same lines as “Tuesdays with Morrie” or “The Last Lecture.” I certainly didn’t know the calendar clearing that the Lord had in store for me. Jobs I loved were finished although I loved doing them. It was a difficult transition. Suddenly I had no excuse not to write. Then God put the right people in my life to encourage me and give me a place to post. (Thank you, Joy!)
It makes me think of the song from the Disney movie Pocohantas. It’s at the beginning of the movie when she’s standing up on the cliff.
I look once more
Just around the riverbend
Beyond the shore
Somewhere past the sea
Don’t know what for
Why do all my dreams extend
Just around the riverbend?
What a wonderful place to be, looking ahead to 2016. Not with fear or trepidation but with courage and anticipation for all that lies “just around the river bend.” Knowing that even in the storms and trials that surely lie ahead, God has gone before us into this year. Knowing that He holds the future and He loves us.
Thank you, dear reader, for taking this journey with me. If you are walking this same path in your life, I pray that you are looking ahead to 2016 with joy. If this is a path you once took, I hope your memories are full of love and thanksgiving for the one for whom you cared. Should this path converge on you this year, take courage that God is more than able to care for you as you care for another.
Happy New Year!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donna B. James is the Worship and Music Director at First United Methodist Church in Cornelia, GA. She’s a wife and mother of three children and, in her “spare” time, teaches voice and piano lessons. She’s a caregiver to her mother, Ruth, who has Alzheimer’s.
If you’re a caregiver and have a story to share or know of resources that might help other caregivers, please contact Donna at [email protected].
