1, 2, 3, Up... | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: 1, 2, 3, Up... | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laury Hubrich
05/15/08
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“1, 2, 3, up.” The casket was raised to shoulder level. Four grandsons and the two sons carried this woman to her final resting place. Just as she carried her family in life, so her family carried her in death.

GOD, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.

Rose worked very hard and wanted so little for herself. What she had, she freely shared with others. She was perfectly content pouring her love and life into her family. She rarely asked for anything but gave of herself all the time, not only to her immediate family, but also to her extended family, church family, and her many friends. She had strength and stubbornness to get her through difficult days triumphantly.

(But she was still my mom-in-law. She had a way of driving me crazy. Did I mention that she was our neighbor? She would knock on our door and then walk on in. Sort of miss that now.)

True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

She frequently could be found outside hard at work in her flower garden. And she also would lose herself in a novel. My mother-in-law shared her favorite classics with me. Don’t know how her sons missed that interest. Summer nights she would keep her window open and listen as trumpet sounds floated into her room as a grandson played to please his grandma.

(When she couldn’t see so well anymore to read, I had to convince her to try books on tape. Once she started listening to them, she was hooked. My new title: Replenisher of tapes. I had to delve into her mind to figure out what ones she would like.)

Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I'm not afraid

Widowed for twenty years, she worked hard at keeping her family together and her hard work certainly paid off. Her two sons stayed with her each step of her journey, from home alone, to hospital, to nursing home, and then again to the hospital. I’m sure Rose’s heart sings as she looks down and sees this.

(It became a sore subject as time went by, I’m sorry to say. My husband spent lots of time at his mother’s side and I would become irritated when it interfered with our family.)

when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook
makes me feel secure.

Rose showed just how courageous she was by this journey she took through Death Valley. It wasn’t easy on anyone to watch her slip away little by little each day but it was evident that was what was happening. She took her mind off the external and looked to the eternal.

(Oh my! Her house is full of stuff. What will happen to all her stuff?)

You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

Gerald and James both shared many hard things as they watched their Mother slowly being pulled away from them. She is now free from pain and can roam around and do all she wants to do. We will forever remember Rose in this way: alive and very active and so in love with her family.

(I missed the phone call. I didn’t get to say goodbye. Just the Sunday before I cooked for her but then took a nap and didn’t get up as she left. I missed saying a last goodbye to her. I missed it -- twice.)

Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of GOD
for the rest of my life.

Rose, arms clasped behind her back, face forward, stubborn mind set, followed her Lord and King to her new home without looking backwards. No regrets.

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