A Life Remembered

It has been some time since I posted last and I am not even sure where to begin.

My father-in-law was buried yesterday. He died on Sunday. While he was ill with cancer and in the hospice unit at the local VA, we did not expect his passing this soon. It is a blessing that he is no longer suffering. Our lives have been full with loving family.

My father-in-law was an amazing man. He could tell stories for hours, and often did. As I grew to know him, I tended to believe them less and less. This is difficult for me to reveal. I loved him, but at a distance. He was in the Army during WWII. A prisoner of war in Germany twice and escaped twice. He was a Purple Heart recipient; sent home to die. He made a remarkable recovery and lived to be 90 years old. He was quite dashing, to hear him tell it, in his prime. Swept my mother-in-law off her feet. They attended the opera and symphonies together. I know for a fact that he was one of the top ten wealthiest men in town at one time. For his profession, he was a chiropractor and a good one. In my opinion, he let his "gift of gab" take his busy practice away from him. My mother-in-law then went to work with six young children in school, when it was not common to be a working mom, in fact it was frowned upon. She is almost always cheerful and optimistic, but I often wonder if she struggles with the loss of the easier, carefree life they once had that was lost. He loved his grandchildren and was proud of his own children, though he never told them--it showed.

His passing has given me a chance to reflect on how I live my life and the improvements that need to be made. Things don't always turn out the way we think they are going to. God's plans are not often ours. We never know when we are going to be called home.

"Lord, give me more of thy likeness;
Enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; engage me to live more for thee.
Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at ease after sweet communings, teach me it is far too little I know and I do....
Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring thee, always humble and resigned to thy will, more fixed on thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and suffering." excerpts from Longings After God, found in The Valley of Vision.