Remembering Aunt Baba
"I am no one special. Just a common person with common thoughts. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and for me that has always been enough."
(Quote from the movie "The Notebook).
I got the chance for a short moment yesterday to be a child again. Not in the sense of running and playing and being carefree, but in a deeper more meaningful way.
I stood in a group of middle-aged people, some graying and growing thick, with kids and grand kids of their own.
A family comprised of siblings and cousins and nieces and nephews. I realized that God had left us with someone to still take care of us for many years after the passing of our own parents.
We laid to rest our beautiful Aunt Baba at the age of 97.
She had never had children of her own but she left an indelible mark on all of us.
As I listened to the minister talk of her love for others I looked around at all those gathered there.
And for a moment all I saw was a large passel of children, sunburned and barefoot and probably up to something.
Children who once gathered around her and probably gave her fits sometimes.
Children she fed, babysat, laughed at, worried about, prayed for, and delighted in.
I could tell by their faces, that all of those gathered there had felt that she loved them best. And they were right. She did love you best. And you. And you. And you.
She loved us all with the best kind of love. The kind of love that says 'you matter' just for being alive. She loved us like our parents loved us and like God loves us, in spite of our foibles and failures. She could see right through us all and loved us anyway and she made us capable of loving others.
She taught us how it was done and what love was supposed to look like. She led by example.
So, no matter what life has led you to or put you through, if you knew Baba, you can humbly and honestly say "I was loved by someone. I mattered and I was special." Honor her memory by picking up her legacy and pass it on to your own children and grandchildren and to all the friends they drag home behind them. Love them all. Enjoy them. Lighten up a little and let them remember what your laughter sounds like. I think I heard her laughter mentioned by everyone I spoke to yesterday.
The bible says a joyful heart does the body good, like medicine and 97 years ain't nothing to sneeze at.
She lived a simple life in a small house with no extravagant ways. She loved Christ and shared his great news in the simplest of ways. The bible says to spread the good news of God and to love others as yourself. I realize now that Baba did this in a very clever way. Every year I got a a Christmas card from her that always said "Jesus loves ya and I do too. Come see me."
It worked, I know and love Christ, I feel loved and I have faith that God will let me come see her again when he sets the date.
So lotsa love to all my siblings and cousins. Y'all make me feel like I hit the jackpot just by being born into this family.
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