Anniversaries

Last Thursday was an anniversary for my family, as is today. 6 years ago on August 19, 2004, my mom passed away. 6 years ago today on August 23, we buried her and celebrated her life.

I was not in the room when she passed away, but I came in immediately after. The family was crowded around her bed, and I was the last to walk in. My then 12-year-old cousin Dalton saw me and rushed over to me. He just latched onto me in this big bear hug and said, "Bree it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay." My 12-year-old cousin was the first to comfort my 20-year-old self. I still find that pretty remarkable, and I won't ever forget it. We were surrounded with so much family and so much love.
The next few days were such a blur. I remember my good friends Jennifer and Betsi went shopping and found me an outfit to wear to her funeral. It still hangs in my closet. I took my little brother to find some dress shoes to wear. I ended up finding a fabulous pair of hot pink stilettos. Pink was my mom's favorite color. So, I splurged.
I hate to call my mom's funeral a funeral, because it was unlike any memorial I have ever been to. Pastor Bo, who married Daniel and I as well as my Dad and Dawn, led the service. There were about 1200 people in attendance, and we celebrated her life. There was a full worship band, and we worshiped God together with songs of celebration. Two of Mom's close friends got up and spoke, and I will never forget when Beth said my mom was an oak of righteousness--she looked at me and my brother and said, "The acorn didn't fall far from the tree."
It was really beautiful, and my sweet momma was honored in the sweetest ways. Today and every day, I remember her.

She passed away on a Thursday, like it was this year, and we honored her on a Monday, like it is this year. 6 years later on August 19, 2010 I was at an outreach event where I was putting on a production I wrote that contains the gospel in song and dance. Today, on the 23, I went over to my Dad and Dawn's house and talked with Dawn for a few hours, got together with some friends, and worked on a song that we're getting ready to record in the studio. Life is so totally different now, and I imagine my momma knows what's going on down here--but she has a totally different perspective from heaven and probably isn't all that interested in what's going on down here because she's face-to-face with Jesus. But I still feel her presence so strongly in my life. She is part of me and I am part of her.
I am thankful for my life now and the way God has brought redemption to me and my family and has restored what was meant for harm. The Lord is my victory.