Loss

Loss of a loved one or friend is something that we all experience in life. It’s something that you can never prepare for no matter how hard you try. No matter how much you tell yourself what the reality is. Sometimes its a waiting period like a terminal illness, sometimes its sudden like a suicide or some type of accident.

I recently experienced a loss in my own family, my MaMom, and although I knew the ultimate outcome of the situation, I was still ripped apart when I got the phone call. To know that I will never hear her laugh or feel her hugs again on this earth, broke my heart.

With death, you tend to reminisce on the past and how that person was a part of your life. I started remembering how she used to make us put our glass of milk or orange pineapple soda on the counter because we had to eat all of our food, at the table, before drinking anything. I remember playing outside for hours pretending to cook with old pots that they had outside. I remember they had fig and kumquat trees in the yard and blackberry vines along the fence. We would pick the figs and blackberries, rinse them and put sugar on them and it was the best thing ever!

I remember when I was really young, she would record, on VHS, cooking shows and she would watch them and pause them to write down ingredients to a recipe. I remember she had set up one of bedrooms as a grocery store for us to play store in. She had empty boxes of animal crackers (the animals were still behind bars on the box at this time), macaroni, etc. on shelves for us to “purchase”. I also remember one time when we lived there that my Mom chased me around MaMom’s canopy bed to whip me and I wouldn’t let her. No telling what I had done. If I had to guess, it was probably something I said. This mouth gets me in trouble from time to time.

One year, for a Women’s Conference at a local church, there was a fashion show and MaMom modeled a couple of outfits and spread her joy while showing off her chosen outfits. She laughed and had so much fun with it.

MaMom was an example of what full of joy and grace looks like. She warred in prayer for her family. We don’t even know the half of what she prayed for. I know she prayed for me during my dark time. She stood with my Mom and so many others believing I would survive and be able to walk away unharmed. She was always so caring. She would talk to anyone and pray for anyone that needed it.

Through her death, people have reached out to me saying that she always made them feel like she was a grandmother to them, too. That she always made them feel accepted and loved.

Usually for the holidays, she would give each family a tin of red pepper crackers and homemade peanut butter and pecan fudge. Her peanut butter fudge is my favorite.

Our lives have been forever changed with her absence. What gives me peace is knowing that she was a child of God and she gets to see her mansion and dance on streets of gold and is no longer in pain of any kind.

Don’t take for granted that your friends and family will always be here on earth with you. They really may be gone the next day. Cherish every moment.

In Loving Memory

Irene Broussard Miller

November 23, 2020