A look back, once again

As I mentioned in my last entry, I have truly had a time of reflection lately and what I find interesting is that old, important memories continue to surface. More so in the past two weeks than they have in a really long time. Just today I was going through an old box of files and discovered I had saved a highschool writing assignment. The assignment asked us to write about "parenting" Keep in mind I was probably fifteen at the time. :) The first page of my book is a dedication page. I dedicated the "book" to my mom and included these words "This is dedicated to my mom who remembers being young and understands how I feel. She is a mother, a teacher and a friend." Included in this assignment was a written entry about a strong memory regarding a parent. The memory I chose to write about was when my mom was in the hospital for two weeks at Harborview when I was a sixth grader and how scared we all were. It was good to be able to read my feelings and thoughts. That was the only time my mom was admitted to the hospital to stay because of heart issues. My grandparents took care of me and my four younger siblings. My brothers, sisters and I missed my mom terribly and were very worried about her. I ended the entry with expressing how thankful we all were to have our mother home and healthy....
Sometimes I believe we think if we don't take things or people forgranted we won't be "asked" to experience life without them. Sometimes what we are challenged to endure or accept can nearly break us. But God will not give us more than we can endure.
I am thankful that I knew how important my mom was when she was here, I know I could have done more to make her life easier - but I am so grateful for the relationship we had.