Virginia Walters ~ My Wonderful Mom

In the past year I’ve posted bits about my mom’s year in hospice care quite often, and last week I shared that she’s gone home to be with her Savior. Thank you to everyone who reached out with kind words of comfort. It’s been a year filled with ups and downs, but we’ve felt God’s presence in all of it. Mom passed away two days before her 92nd birthday. It was on the 75th anniversary of my parents first date. They’ve been married for 72 years.

Mom was talented at many things. She had the gift of hospitality ~ and loved to cook all our favorite foods. She also enjoyed knitting and crocheting ~ especially items for her family (posts about the nativity set she made for me, and the part her skill played in a quilt I’m still “working on” come to mind). Mom loved puzzles of all kinds. She was also an amazingly dedicated genealogist.

As I began thinking about all the things that made her “mom” I had to admit that every one of them revolved around her love for her family. There were only four of us in the beginning but as with most of our stories ~ that number grew.

I was born while mom was working as a dental hygienist and dad was still in dental school. My brother Kurt followed 2 years later. (he’s the one next to mom).

We were a close knit family

And we’ve stayed very close over these many years.

Kurt and I were blessed with loving spouses.

And quite a few kids and grandkids.

Mom loved each and every one! The photo above was taken a few years ago, before my nephew’s youngest daughter was born. All the other great grandkids were there except Rainee. All families have their struggles and because of a difficult part of ours, Rainee has not been a part of our lives for 14 years, but she has been a part of our thoughts and prayers. This year things changed and she was able to come to Wisconsin and meet her family. This is a part of the story that could only have been a gift from the Lord.

Mom lost her ability to hear early this year, and her vision was failing too. Communication was getting more and more difficult prior to Rainee’s visit and mom had been sleeping about 97% of the time. She would open her eyes long enough to say “I love you” and then fall back asleep. During her year in hospice she often asked me why Jesus wouldn’t just take her. My answer was simply that God’s timing is perfect.

The day Rainee came to meet mom she surprised us by waking up and saying she wanted to sit up in bed. She hugged each of us, but after she hugged Rainee she just stared at her ~ and then looked at me confused. I finally wrote Rainee’s name one letter at a time slowly on the whiteboard, and mom squinted intently. When I reached the last “e” mom said “Rainee?”, I nodded yes, and Rainee came over and hugged her again. Then Rainee turned to me and said “great grandma Ginny just said she loves me”! That night Rainee made her a beaded charm and mom was alert once again for our next visit.

That was the last time she had a time of clarity, and she passed away a week after Rainee returned home. I truly believe God kept her here on earth this long so she and Rainee could meet! God’s timing is perfect!

The evening mom passed dad called us, Mike and I went right over, and we were together as we waited for the funeral home to come and get mom’s body. At one point her nurse came in and told us he was going to get Shorehaven’s dignity quilt to place over mom as she was taken out of the building. At that moment I remembered that my quilt guild, Patched Lives, had been asked by Shorehaven years ago to make a quilt for this purpose. I organized that project and asked members to make blocks. I then put the blocks together, and was at Shorehaven with other friends from Patched Lives to present it.

So, I said to Jake “I helped to make a dignity quilt a long time ago, I wonder if you still have that quilt”. When I saw the embroidered Scripture blocks in my handwriting I knew it was the one.

I even wrote the label. It’s so important to label your quilts!

This was another sweet moment when God made it clear He was a part of this all.

Mom was not afraid to die because she knew that Jesus had prepared a place for her in heaven. We often read together from the Bible the passages that give assurance that everyone who has confessed their sins and accepted Christ’s gift of salvation will have an eternity with Him in a perfect place he called paradise (John 14:1-6 and Luke 23:40-43). She wanted everyone to know this! If you’re not sure you have this peace, please email me. I’d love to share from the Bible the assurance He has given us. Mom wanted you to know too!