Tomorrow would be my mom’s 92nd birthday. Wow, it’s hard to believe she’s been gone so long, 36 years since her last breath and she’s still impacting lives. Isn’t that the strangest thing? Our bodies may be done, but our spirits really do live on. I wonder if we’d live differently if we recognized that in our everyday lives?

I just saw a picture my cousin Linda posted on facebook. My dad gave it to her some years ago. It was taken on November 11th, 1950 at my parents’ wedding. Linda was just a little girl and the picture shows her holding Mom’s hand. The two of them admiring the ring together. Linda still treasures that photo and that moment nearly seventy years later. That’s how love works.

I was thinking earlier today about the memories I have of my mom. I realized I don’t have very many big, wow, super exciting, that was amazing kind of memories. I remember hanging laundry together, helping her with the sheets. I remember being the garden; planting seeds, pulling weeds, harvesting vegetables, snacking on fresh beans and berries. I remember singing along with the radio and riding in the car on those trips home from the mall when she’d bought us cinnamon bears or juju coins. We’d talk and laugh and sing and just enjoy each other’s company.

That is the coolest thing. She really lived life right. She showed me love in the smallest of actions. Now, thirty-six years later, I can still feel it. I can pick green beans and know my mom’s love. That is simply wild. I can only hope that I can do the same, living life with love in every action.