GLORIA ANN LOWE… 12/19/1952 – 07/23/2010

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation 21:4

My mom passed away last week.

You are never really prepared to hear someone tell you your mother has died, especially when she is relatively young at 58 and no prior warning that her time for walking among us has come to an end.  So many emotions are thrown at you at once that you hardly know how or what to feel.  Sadness because your mother is gone?  Anger because she was taken away suddenly and without warning?  Regret because you have not seen her in ages?

And of course, the shock of death always brings one face to face with one’s own mortality.  The age difference between me and my mom is only 16 years.  Time is tender.  Time is fleeting.  The hour of our death is unknown.  Did my mom do all she came here to do?  Did she fulfill all of her hopes and dreams? I think she would say yes.  She raised three children mostly on her own.  Taught them the difference between right and wrong.  She got to see her grandchildren, and she had a strong personal relationship with God being an ordained minister.  I think she would say she stood strong in the Lord and is now happy to be called home.

Where does that leave us back here on earth?  Deprived of a mother, deprived of a caring human being who did what she could for others without any expectation of return.  She would rather suffer in silence than burden others with her troubles, such was her disposition to put others before herself.  Her passing leaves us to cary on the good fight, to do the things we were sent here to do, to live up to our fullest potential, to honor her name.

I cannot say that I was extremely close to my mother, when I was young yes, but I left home at 17 to be the man she raised me to be and haven’t been home much since then, but always she was in my thoughts, my heart, my soul and many times I have stopped to reflect on the lessons she taught me as a boy.  The greatest gift she gave to me besides life was belief.  She taught me always to believe in myself, to never be content to be just another member of the herd, to have the guts to dream and the confidence to pursue those dreams. I am who I am today because of her.  I will miss her.

Rest in peace Mom,

Love,

Clay