“And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”
Galatians 6:8 (RSV)
Since today would be my mother’s 110th birthday, I am sharing a story that I shared once before, since it is very special to me.
In 1976, after I was the last child out of the house, my retired, widowed mother relocated to Huntington Beach, California. My brother was already living there with his family, working as an Aerospace engineer for Boeing, and she decided that sunny California would be a pleasant place for her retirement.
She lived there for 29 years, made many friends, and we had many enjoyable visits over the years. She came back to visit Illinois often, and we also went to California frequently.
When she turned ninety we threw a big party for her in her California home. She was happy, healthy and living independently.
Then one day she tripped and fell, while walking to her nearby grocery store. She broke her wrist and since then, she became very fearful to go outside. It wasn’t long after that injury, that my brother and I noticed a change in her mental status. She was becoming increasingly confused.
At the time, she had been receiving her meals from “Meals on wheels”, and one time, on a minor holiday, she couldn’t understand why no one delivered her meal, but on holidays, they don’t deliver meals. She dialed 911, telling the dispatcher that her emergency was that no one brought her a meal that day.
The Huntington Beach police department sent two officers to her home. The officers asked her what she would like to eat. My mother gave her order to the police and they returned minutes later with an order of a cheeseburger and french fries.
She declined a beverage, because she had enough beer in her refrigerator.
Those police officers made my mother so happy, even though, in her dementia, she was totally unaware that she received a service far outside the norm of a 911 call.
I was so touched by their kindness, I wrote a letter to the police department, thanking them for the thoughtfulness of those officers.
Not long after that, I moved my mother into my home to live with Stephen and I, in Glenview, Illinois. We celebrated her 92nd birthday with a party, and four months later, she passed away peacefully in her sleep.
I’ll never forget how those kind police officers went the extra mile just to serve an elderly, confused woman that day. They went far beyond their job description for a total stranger.
My mother’s legacy is that she never missed a day of serving and caring for others. She not only raised her own family, but took care of her husband, her mother, her aunt and eventually her two grandchildren in California. For someone who sowed lovingkindness during her lifetime, it was good to see her reap it in the end of life. She received it in a special way that day, from her own police department.
It makes me think of ways that I can go the extra mile to do good for someone else. God has established a natural law for all people, and if we do not grow weary in doing good, and do not lose heart in going the extra mile, we will reap rewards in due season. (Galatians 6:9)
Happy birthday to my mom and all our loved ones in heaven ❤️
Lord, show us how you want us to go the extra mile today. May we never grow weary in doing good, and bless each reader to reap their blessings for all the good they have already sown. Amen
(My mom at 91 in 2005)