I met Emma folding bulletins at our Lutheran church. She was late 70s. Her husband Bill was gone. She sat with her friend Corrine. While folding bulletins, they would argue across the table about everything. Initially, I was alarmed but then I realized it was all a wonderful game of fun! When Emma rode to church in my Mini Cooper, she told friends she was riding in a “hot rod.” At 85 she was full of joy.

Emma gradually lost her eye sight. She asked for large print devotional book. Still, at 90 she came to fold and never missed church – a faithful child of the Lord. As Corrine was dying, Emma called her in Christian love each night. Soon after she asked me to bring the bulletins/and Chinese food to her home. Talks were about loved ones, family, even trips to Walmart. She had been adopted by her grand dad, had a wonderful husband, two daughters and a blessed life. She rarely complained about failing health, losing Bill, being abandoned by her mom or her impending blindness. “We are going to dance on tables this weekend,” she said with sparkling eyes after her colostomy (with which she so struggled). Her means in the small apartment were humble but her Christian heart and attitude large with the light of God.

Ultimately, Emma was bedridden with Leukemia. While I was packing to move to Ocala, Emma asked me when I was to depart. Close to dying, she told me she was “going for 100 if the man upstairs would let her!” Her concern was leaving her daughters, although well-raised by her and in the hands of God. I consoled her sharing she was going to a much better place than Ocala; Bill would be waiting for her and she could dance on tables again! Lying in bed, she still insisted she wished she was packing, too. She bid me a tearful goodbye and blessed me with a hug.

The Lord took Emma home that week, smack before I departed. We were both heading to new life by our Lord; Emma to heaven and me to Ocala. I attended her memorial service and gratefully reflected on Emma. She had taught me how to live and how to die in the heart of Christ.

Doris

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  Matthew 5:8