My Mother's Purse

After my mother died in 2004, I was in her bedroom, going thru her things.

On top of a dresser in the corner was her blue purse.  She had used it for a very long time, but I was not prepared for what I saw when I opened it.

The lining inside was totally in shreds....torn completely apart.  At that sight, I burst into tears.  I wept openly for a long time.

I'm sure part of that was the emotion over her death.

But another part was that the purse was a reminder to me that my mother is the most unselfish person I've ever known.  Her purse was a sort of evidence of that because she didn't buy stuff for herself; she shared with others.....

When she got money for Christmas, she spent it on her children.  My parents had many people stay in their homes over the years; some for extended periods of time.  She fed homeless train riders who found their way to our home on Thanksgiving.  People loved to come to our home for her incredible meals and she fed them so willingly and unselfishly.

When I think now, these so many years later, I see my mother in my mind's eye and she is smiling,  She is the gentle mother who asked little in life, but gave much; much laughter, happiness, joy, goodness.

(Recently my husband was extolling the virtues of our two daughters; their thoughtfulnesses, their kindnesses, their goodnesses, their concern and caring, and I said they get it from both grandmothers. )

Oh, dear mother, if you were here, we would go shopping and I would gladly buy you a new purse.  But that is not what you would want of me; I see the greater lesson here..... I need to be more like you!  I need to be doing for others, like you did your entire life for others.

My parents on a mission to Hawaii.  Dad taught law and business law.  Mom was a secretary for a lady in the art department.  She was much loved by her boss, who had been notoriously difficult for others to get along with.  I love this picture because it shows my parents so happy - giving service to others, which was what their lives were about.

It's not really about a purse at all, is it?  It's about being a giver, a doer, a carer, someone like YOU!

What a legacy of goodness you have left for me to try to follow!