A Legacy of Love

I received word this morning my dear Aunt Lynn passed into eternity today at 3:32am.  This came as no surprise to family and friends, but no amount of preparation diffuses the reality separation that death brings.  For most of my lifetime Lynn has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, emphysema, diabetes, and a variety of other ailments.  But through all the hardship and struggle I cannot remember a single time she complained.  Love and selflessness are Aunt Lynn's legacy, a shining example for our family to cherish and honor.  For the last two weeks we had been prepared by doctors she did not have long to live.  Every day she talked, smiled, and laughed among us was a tremendous gift.

Last Friday I was driving home and I received a call from my mom.  She said, "If you want to see Aunt Lynn, now would be the time."  I continued to her house and met with a group of friends and family who gathered to give her comfort, company, and return a little bit of the love she had freely given to us.  I arrived to see what would be the last couple of hours Aunt Lynn remained conscious and responsive, a true gift from God.  What I experienced and observed at her bedside was something I will never forget.

If you know Aunt Lynn, you would know she has a great-grandson Zac because she talks about him all the time.  Zac is beyond precious to her, so dear to her you might think he was her only child.  "He's really what keeps me going," she shared with me at the family Thanksgiving celebration this year.  I arrived at the moment six-year-old Zac would be seeing his dear granny for the last time.  It was one of the most sorrowful and heart-wrenching things I have ever seen.  As he approached her bedside, she lit up with a radiant smile and was overjoyed.  But even in his youth he could not escape the finality of the moment, understanding that granny's sickness was beyond the care of medicine or treatment.  Tears welled up in his eyes and his face turned red, not sure what to do or say.  Aunt Lynn, seeing his tears began to cry as well, reaching out to him.  "It's just so sad," the boy managed to choke out.  Everyone in the room was seeing through tears. 

My mind drifted to the words of Juliet:  "...Parting is such sweet sorrow."  There was little sweetness in that sorrow.  There was much sweetness between the love of child and great-granny, not to be undone by death.  Zac was quickly whisked away and the hospice nurse helped Lynn with additional oxygen.  The emotion that welled up inside left her unable to breathe.  Within a couple of hours Lynn was asleep and would never again regain consciousness.  Because of Jesus Christ and her trust in Him, Lynn will never see spiritual death.  Though her body lost the battle to illness, her soul has gained the victory.  She can say with the saints gone before her:   "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." [55] "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" [56] The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 15:54-57)

What occurred to me after that sad moment of parting between Aunt Lynn and Zac is a follower of Jesus Christ will never be separated from God the Father even in physical death.  There will be no heart-breaking bedside parting between God and His children.  Jesus is going to prepare a place for us so where He is we may be there also.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  Death may separate us from loved ones on earth, but nothing shall separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus.  My Aunt Lynn has left our family a legacy of love which I will never forget, and Jesus has revealed His love for all by His death on the cross.  When I was still a sinner, He died for me.  It is Him that I find hope in the face of sorrow.  How good it is to know you have been loved, and how much greater to know you are loved still!