This portion of my mother's temple is a bit different from the poems you found previously... This portion, is some of my remeberances, and kind of an explanation for those who think I am off my rocker...

For as long as I can remember, Mom always laughed. It was a magical sound, and her light blue eyes would light up like the stars. Her mouth would curl up with a child's delight. It was a sound that is firmly embedded in my memories of her. In my lifetime, I can not once remember seeing her weep, although I know she did.

Momma stood four feet, eleven inches tall, and usually weighed around 98 pounds. She had the palest blue eyes, and laugh lines about her eyes that would crinkled. She liked to wear her hair up off her forehead, and before my teen years, it was the most beautiful shade of auburn. I remember her wearing a bandana often...with hair rollers underneath when she hadn't enough time to take them out before she went to work.

This tiny woman was life itself to me. She represented all that life ever was and ever should be. Never was she idle...she always had something to do, someplace to go, and a smile to share. Even now, I can close my eyes and conjure images of her painting the house at two in the morning, just simply because she felt it needed to be done.

She loved her family deeply, and her friends, well, they were the same as family. Momma had a gift of making everyone feel special and welcome within her home and heart. She would cuss you out for doing something totally stupid, and have you thanking her by the time she was done. All she had to do was give you that "look". You know the one?? Where you kind of shrivel up inside, and stumble all over yourself.

My best memories of Mom are the Holidays . They were always so special, in many ways. She had a gift of making everything seem brighter, of making everything seem so very perfect. Mom loved the holidays, I think, simply because of the joy she brought us kids by doing simple things.

It is odd in a way, that I can look back now and realize that Mom lived her life for those around her...our joys were her joys, our hurts were her hurts, and our peace was her peace. I guess she instilled this on her kids, as when she was diagnosed with cancer , we all came, and we all spent time with her.

Some days it is difficult for me to believe that she has gone to the afterlife. It is difficult to explain to many people, that I don't see Mom as being "lost"--as she hasn't been misplaced, and I know where she is. She is the wind that blows in my hair, the sunshine that puts freckles on my cheeks, the rain that feeds the earth, the night sky that brings us rest. She is all things now, and she is always close...