Words uttered by an actress in the role of Mother Superior to actress Deborah Kerr, a nun venturing forth to serve a mountaintop community in Tibet. An unlikely place to find words appropro in describing my recently deceased mother-in-law. However her eldest son, my husband, likewise referenced an old film, It’s A Wonderful Life, in eulogizing his mom.

(Photo credit to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It’s_a_Wonderful_Life )

He likened her to Jimmy Stewart’s character who, though just a common man, figured greatly into the lives of those in Bedford Falls. Given the opportunity to view life had he not been born, Stewart realizes his invaluable service to others. He chooses life with the help of his guardian angel Clarence, who garners himself a pair of wings in the process.

My husband ended his remarks with an aside to his mom…”You got your wings, mom.”

Superior to all…though definitely not by her own admission.

Mom, a homemaker with no college education, held court around her small, formica, kitchen table, in a house whose walls remained in place because never-ending armies of termites “held hands” as generations of family members went about their business of daily living.

Now that mom is gone from her humble abode, the termites will likely meet their demise when the house is leveled by a buyer intent upon rebuilding to his or her own liking. I hope the resulting dream home brings its occupants as much happiness as was previously enjoyed in the house held together by termites.

Serving without question and with unconditional love…her husband, her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and all those with whom she came into contact, my mother-in-law unknowingly mounted the ladder rung, by rung to…superiority…in God’s estimation…and ours.

…all those whose lives are better…for having known her…

………hugmamma.  🙂  🙂  🙂