I had an aunt pass away this past Friday. She was 98 years old and lived a good life. Her name was Ruby Cardell and she and her husband, Ed Cardell were the owners of Floyd Road Shopette for years. If you grew up in Mableton, at some time in your life you most likely met Aunt Ruby. She was a very humble lady with a loving personality and a beautiful smile. May she rest in peace in the arms of her savior.
As I was thinking about Aunt Ruby this weekend, my mind naturally flowed to others that have died recently. It seems each week we are going to a visitation, funeral or memorial service for a friend or family member that has died. Why is it that there seem to be more and more deaths of people close to me I asked myself the other day? I'm sure it's because I'm getting older and am getting close to that time when I will be called home myself. I'm sure some of you are saying to yourselves about now "This sounds like a gruesome post, I don't know if I want to keep reading this or not." Or you may say "This doesn't sound like a post from Wesley, he's usually upbeat." Let me ask you to please continue reading. There yet maybe something that will inspire you.
When writing most of my post, a subject or a person will come to mind, I sit down at the computer and just start typing. What you get is the first thing that pops into this old soft bald head that is attached to this body of mine. But this post has developed over the past week and the inspiration came from someone who is probably going to be shocked when she sees her name. If you happened to read my last post, you will remember it was about my Aunt Frances and her having her 100th birthday. If you haven't read it I hope you will. It was about the things I remember about Aunt Frances and the influence she has had on my life. I posted it on facebook as I usually do and was again amazed at the responses I got. I still have a hard time believing people will read something I write, much less enjoy the things that come out of my mind or my memories of my life years ago. Maybe that's a subject for another post but for now I must finish this one. Anyways, I love getting comments on what I write. I guess it confirms that what I write is worth reading. Maybe it's an ego thing. I'm not sure but I know I enjoy the comments and I mean everyone of them. But after the last post there was a comment that really hit me hard. I mean hard like a kick in the stomach hard. It came from a lady that I went to High School with. We are friends on Facebook. In fact we are probably better friends on Facebook than we were in High School. You see, she was a much nicer person in school than I was and she had the good sense to keep a safe distance from me and my kind. That being said, I guess I can still say we were friends back then, and I'm glad I can say we are friends today. The person I'm talking about is Edna Brown Romano. What was her comment you ask? Edna said:
"I pray I will live a life that will call to the mind of a niece,nephew or grandchild the warmth of love you have shared so beautifully."
Stop for a minute and think about what Edna said. She not only said these kind words to me, she set a goal for herself to live a certain kind of life. In fact, Edna took it a step farther and prayed to live her life in a certain way. Edna's comment struck a chord with me. As many things do lately, Edna's comment got my mind to going. The first thing I did was type a new status on Facebook. You may remember I typed:
I can do that. Think about it.
You probably thought I was asking you to think about it, while I was actually asking me to think about it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't live that kind of life. I could type I CAN DO THAT, and I could say I CAN DO THAT, but by myself, I couldn't do that. So I went back and read Edna's comment again, and two words jumped out at me. I PRAY. There was my answer. If I pray, I can do that.
Phil. 4-13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
When I was younger, just like most young people I thought I was indestructible. I thought I would live forever. Then for some reason we finally realize we are only here for a short time. It is during these times we discover that if we are going to leave a footprint on this earth, the best way to be remembered is by how we lived. How we treated others. How we loved others. When I think of the ones that have gone before me, the ones I remember fondly are the ones that always had nice things to say. The ones that always had that smile on their faces. The ones with a giving spirit. The people with a righteous spirit and those that showed mercy to the downtrodden. In short, the ones I have the best memories of are the ones that were the most Christ like.
And so:
I pray I will live a life that will call to the mind of a niece,nephew or grandchild the warmth of love You have shared so beautifully with me my Lord. Let me always be submissive to Your Guiding Light.
Amen and Amen.
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