I Miss You, But I Let You Go…An Ode to My Mama — Via the Wayfaring Gal (9/8/2022)

I Miss You, But I Let You Go…An Ode to My Mama — Via the Wayfaring Gal (9/8/2022)

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exod 20:12)

The older I get, the closer I am to the ages my parents were when they died. It’s hard to believe I am working my way to being 72-years-old next time around, the Good Lord willing.

I don’t feel that old in my mind, but my body tells me differently these days.

Time is such a strange thing…where does it go? Seems like it was just yesterday I was in my twenties, and now fifty years have just flown by!

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (Jas 4:14)

I can almost feel the wind blowing my hair, riding my motorcycle back in the seventies!

But…

Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. (Ps 144:4)

Well, enough about me. Daddy was twenty years older than Mama, and they passed away almost exactly twenty years apart. Daddy passed in December of 1984 and Mama in January of 2005.

Here they are in 1946, before either my brother or I were born. Daddy would have been 39-years-old, and Mama only 19-years-old:

Funny how my parents were almost the same age when they died, even with that 20-year time span between them. It was hard to see them both go, but more so my mom. Then again, maybe it’s just because I lost Daddy so long ago that the pain has lessened.

They say time heals all wounds and I suppose it does, but I also didn’t have an understanding of the salvation Gospel when Daddy died.

I wasn’t a Christian when he died. That didn’t happen until fifteen years later, six years before Mama died.

Losing Mama was harder on me for that reason; plus, I was her caregiver for several years at the end and it wasn’t nearly as long ago. Mama and I were a lot alike in a lot of ways and in others….not so much.

I read the Psalms to her over and over again during those final days. I hoped she’d find some comfort in them, just as I did…or something.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. (Ps 103:11)

When she passed away, I chose the poem “Miss Me But Let Me Go” for her memorial service and had it printed up.

I put this collage together—with the poem—after her death and keep it on my wall to this day (I’m the little girl):

A few years after her memorial service I adapted the poem to read as follows (apologies to the author):

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me,

I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little, but not too long,

And not with your head hung low.

Remember the love we once shared-

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take,

And each must go alone.

It’s all a part of the Master’s plan;

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely or sick at heart,

Go to a place we have known,

And bury your sorrow in reading Psalms.

Miss me, but let me go.

So that’s what I did Mama

On that fateful day,

Sobbing with sadness

As I walked the Narrow Way.

Praying the Lord

Would have mercy on your soul.

I have missed you all these years

But I finally did, let you go.

I created these “digital headstone” images with Daddy’s poem on one and Mama’s poem on the other:

Daddy and Mama are now buried together in California. Here is the headstone my brother had made up and placed for them. Daddy was a fisherman at heart and Mama loved to read…

Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) (Eph 6:2)

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4:

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. (Eccl 7:2)

Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. (Eccl 7:3)

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (Eccl 7:4)

For a most-helpful guide (pdf) to the narrow way and authentic salvation—by a man who walked it to the end—click here: BeSureYouAreSaved.com

Source: https://wayfaringgalblog.wordpress.com/2022/09/08/i-miss-you-but-i-let-you-go/